The Unspoken Riddle
by lucidlullaby
Summary: Slight AU. Tom Riddle wasn't alone in the world, in fact, he had a sister. He got to know love from birth, Ella made sure of it. But his love for her was different: possessive, obsessive and all-consuming. So when the Riddles arrive to Hogwarts and end up in different houses, Tom only grows more dangerous. Left alone in the Slytherin house, he becomes the king under the lake.
1. Prologue

**Title: **The Unspoken Riddle

**Summary: **Slight AU. Tom Riddle wasn't alone in the world, in fact, he had a sister. He got to know love from birth, Ella made sure of it. But his love for her was different: possessive, obsessive and all-consuming. So when the Riddles arrive to Hogwarts and end up in different houses, Tom only grows more dangerous. Left alone in the Slytherin house, he becomes the king under the lake. A dark lord, before he was Voldemort.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling and the only thing I own is Ella Riddle, and seven physical copies of the books. This is not made for profit and is purely for entertainment purposes. I am making a grand total of zero for writing this.**

* * *

**Prologue**

It was one of the more rare English summer days, the sun hanging up high with only a few fluffy white clouds lazily rolling through the pastel blue sky.

The streets of London were buzzing more than usual, as many families took their eager children out to enjoy the fine day. So it was no surprise when they passed the grim looking square building, that they ignored it completely.

People preferred to look at the brightly coloured shop windows, and the many posters advertising a deal on ice cream, inviting everyone to cool of on this wonderfully hot summers day.

With so many distractions, no one paid attention to a silent little pop that came somewhere from a back alley.

A man, rather strange looking fellow, walked out of the alley and crossed the street right in front of the horse-drawn milk cart.

Having reached the other side of the street, he strode off along the pavement, drawing many curious glances due to the flamboyantly cut suit of plum velvet that he was wearing.

He stopped momentarily, looking past the iron gates. Bright blue eyes quickly found the large wooden sign: Wool's Orphanage. Walking past the gates he mounted the few steps leading to the front door and knocked once. After a moment or two, the door was opened by a scruffy girl wearing an apron.

"Good afternoon. I have an appointment with a Mrs. Cole, who, I believe is the matron here?"

"Oh," said the bewildered-looking girl, taking in the man's eccentric appearance. "Um... just a mo'... MRS. COLE!" she bellowed over her shoulder.

He could hear a distant voice shouting something in response. The girl turned back to the man. "Come in, she's on 'er way."

He stepped into a hallway tiled in black and white; the whole place was shabby but spotlessly clean. Before the front door had closed behind him, a skinny, harassed-looking woman came scurrying toward him. She had a sharp- featured face that appeared more anxious than unkind, and she was talking over her shoulder to another aproned helper as she walked toward the man.

"... and take the iodine upstairs to Martha, Billy Stubbs has been picking his scabs and Eric Whalley's oozing all over his sheets — chicken pox on top of everything else," she said to nobody in particular, and then her eyes fell upon the man and she stopped dead in her tracks, looking as astonished as if a giraffe had just crossed her threshold.

"Good afternoon," said the man, holding out his hand. Mrs. Cole simply gaped.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore. I sent you a letter requesting an appointment and you very kindly invited me here today."

Mrs. Cole blinked. Apparently deciding that he was not a hallucination, she said feebly, "Oh yes. Well — well then — you'd better come into my room. Yes."

She led Dumbledore into a small room that seemed part sitting room, part office. It was as shabby as the hallway and the furniture was old and mismatched. She invited Dumbledore to sit on a rickety chair and seated herself behind a cluttered desk, eyeing him nervously.

"I am here, as I told you in my letter, to discuss Tom and Ella Riddle and arrangements for their future," said Dumbledore.

"Are you family?" asked Mrs. Cole.

"No, I am a teacher," said Dumbledore. "I have come to offer both Tom and Ella a place at my school."

"What school's this, then?"

"It is called Hogwarts," said Dumbledore.

"And how come you're interested in them?"

"We believe they have qualities we are looking for."

"You mean they've won a scholarship? How can they have done? Neither of them have been entered for one."

"Well, their names has been down for our school since birth —"

"Who registered them? Their parents?"

There was no doubt that Mrs. Cole was an inconveniently sharp woman. Apparently Dumbledore thought so too, he slipped his wand out of the pocket of his velvet suit, at the same time picking up a piece of perfectly blank paper from Mrs. Cole's desktop.

"Here," said Dumbledore, waving his wand once as he passed her the piece of paper, "I think this will make everything clear."

Mrs. Cole's eyes slid out of focus and back again as she gazed intently at the blank paper for a moment.

"That seems perfectly in order," she said placidly, handing it back. Then her eyes fell upon a bottle of gin and two glasses that had certainly not been present a few seconds before.

"Er — may I offer you a glass of gin?" she said in an extra-refined voice.

"Thank you very much," said Dumbledore, beaming.

It soon became clear that Mrs. Cole was no novice when it came to gin drinking. Pouring both of them a generous measure, she drained her own glass in one gulp. Smacking her lips frankly, she smiled at Dumbledore for the first time, and he didn't hesitate to press his advantage.

"I was wondering whether you could tell me anything of the Riddle's history? I think they were born here in the orphanage?"

"That's right," said Mrs. Cole, helping herself to more gin. "I remember it clear as anything, because I'd just started here myself. New Year's Eve and bitter cold, snowing, you know. Nasty night. And this girl, not much older than I was myself at the time, came staggering up the front steps. Well, she wasn't the first. We took her in, and she had the boy within the hour. And she was dead not long after. Heart gave out before she could give birth to the girl, had to perform a caesarian. It was a dreadful thing, poor girl only lived long enough to name her son."

Mrs. Cole nodded impressively and took another generous gulp of gin.

"Did she say anything before she died?" asked Dumbledore. "Anything about their father, for instance?"

"Now, as it happens, she did," said Mrs. Cole, who seemed to be rather enjoying herself now, with the gin in her hand and an eager audience for her story. "I remember she said to me, 'I hope he looks like his papa,' and I won't lie, she was right to hope it, because she was no beauty — and then she told me he was to be named Tom, for his father, and Marvolo, for her father — yes, I know, funny name, isn't it? We wondered whether she came from a circus — and she said the boy's surname was to be Riddle. And she died soon after that without another word.

"Well, we named him just as she'd said, it seemed so important to the poor girl, sadly I had to name the other baby myself. Their mother only lived long enough for one, and no Tom nor Marvolo nor any kind of Riddle ever came looking for them, nor any family at all, so they stayed in the orphanage and they've been here ever since."

Mrs. Cole helped herself, almost absentmindedly, to another healthy measure of gin. Two pink spots had appeared high on her cheekbones. Then she said, "Tom's a funny boy."

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "I thought he might be."

"He was a funny baby too. He hardly ever cried, you know. And then, when he got a little older, he was... odd."

"Odd in what way?" asked Dumbledore gently.

"Well, he —"

But Mrs. Cole pulled up short, and there was nothing blurry or vague about the inquisitorial glance she shot Dumbledore over her gin glass.

"He's definitely got a place at your school, you say? Him and the girl?"

"Definitely," said Dumbledore.

"And nothing I say can change that?"

"Nothing," said Dumbledore.

"You'll be taking him away, whatever?"

"Whatever," repeated Dumbledore gravely.

She squinted at him as though deciding whether or not to trust him. Apparently she decided she could, because she said in a sudden rush, "He scares the other children."

"You mean he is a bully?" asked Dumbledore.

"I think he must be," said Mrs. Cole, frowning slightly, "but it's very hard to catch him at it. There have been incidents... Nasty things..."

Dumbledore did not press her, though you could tell that he was interested. She took yet another gulp of gin and her rosy cheeks grew rosier still.

"Billy Stubbs's rabbit... well, Tom said he didn't do it and I don't see how he could have done, but even so, it didn't hang itself from the rafters, did it?"

"I shouldn't think so, no," said Dumbledore quietly.

"But I'm jiggered if I know how he got up there to do it. All I know is he and Billy had argued the day before. And then"— Mrs. Cole took another swig of gin, slopping a little over her chin this time — "on the summer outing — we take them out, you know, once a year, to the countryside or to the seaside — well, Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop were never quite right afterwards, and all we ever got out of them was that they'd gone into a cave with Tom Riddle. He swore they'd just gone exploring, but something happened in there, I'm sure of it. And, well, there have been a lot of things, funny things..."

"And what about Ella?" asked Dumbledore.

"She's a nice girl, quiet sort. Never really talks to anyone, I suspected she might be afraid of her brother. But she refuses to leave the room they share."

She looked around at Dumbledore again, and though her cheeks were flushed, her gaze was steady. "Ella is nice enough,but she doesn't have anyone here other than Tom, and I don't think many people will be sorry to see the boy gone."

"You understand, I'm sure, that we will not be keeping them permanently?" said Dumbledore.

"They will have to return here, at the very least, every summer."

"Oh, well, that's better than a whack on the nose with a rusty poker," said Mrs. Cole with a slight hiccup. She got to her feet, she was quite steady, even though two-thirds of the gin was now gone. "I suppose you'd like to see them?"

"Very much," said Dumbledore, rising too.

She led him out of her office and up the stone stairs, calling out instructions and admonitions to helpers and children as she passed. The orphans were all wearing the same kind of greyish tunic. They looked reasonably well-cared for, but there was no denying that this was a grim place in which to grow up.

"Here we are," said Mrs. Cole, as they turned off the second landing and stopped outside the first door in a long corridor. She knocked twice and entered.

"Tom, Ella? You've got a visitor. This is Mr. Dumberton — sorry, Dunderbore. He's come to tell you — well, I'll let him do it."

Dumbledore entered the room, and Mrs. Cole closed the door on them. It was a small bare room with nothing in it except an old wardrobe and two iron bedsteads. A boy was sitting on top of the grey blankets, his legs stretched out in front of him, holding a book. A girl was lying next to him, seemingly asleep.

There was no trace of the Gaunts in either of the Riddle's faces. Merope had got her dying wish: He was a handsome boy, tall for eleven years old, dark-haired, and pale; and while Merope never got to meet her daughter, she looked much like Tom. His eyes narrowed slightly as he took in Dumbledore's eccentric appearance. There was a moment's silence.

"How do you do, Tom?" said Dumbledore, walking forward and holding out his hand.

The boy hesitated, he glanced down at his sleeping sister, then took it, and they shook hands. Dumbledore drew up the hard wooden chair beside Riddle.

"I am Professor Dumbledore."

"'Professor'?" repeated Riddle. He looked wary. "Is that like 'doctor'? What are you here for? Did she get you in to have a look at me?"

He was pointing at the door through which Mrs. Cole had just left.

"No, no," said Dumbledore, smiling.

Riddle's eyes narrowed. "Is it my sister then? She wants to take Ella away from me, doesn't she?" The boy asked.

"Oh no dear boy, no one is separating you from your sister."

"Who are you then?"

"I have told you. My name is Professor Dumbledore and I work at a school called Hogwarts. I have come to offer you and your sister a place at my school — your new school, if you would like to come."

Riddle's reaction to this was most surprising. He leapt from the bed, dropping the book on the floor, looking furious at Dumbledore. But before anything could be said, Ella opened her startlingly green eyes and grabbed Tom's hand.

"Tom." She looked up at Tom intently.

Dumbledore was surprised by how quickly his sister had calmed Tom down. He sat back down on the bed, Ella joining in to sit right next to him. She held his hand in hers.

"Hello Professor... Dumbledore, is it? You will have to excuse my brother, he worries sometimes that we will be separated." She calmly explained, ignoring the sharp look from Tom.

Albus smiled at the girl, "It's quite alright Miss Riddle, I understand."

"Now... Hogwarts," Dumbledore went on, as though he had not been interrupted at all, "is a school for people with special abilities. A school where children, such as yourselves, learn to control these abilities."

"What sort of abilities? What kind of school's called Hogwarts?"

"Hogwarts is a school of magic."

There was silence. Ella gasped, her eyes wide. Tom had frozen, his face expressionless, but his eyes were flickering back and forth between each of Dumbledore's, as though trying to catch one of them lying.

"Magic?" he repeated in a whisper.

"That's right," said Dumbledore.

"It's... it's magic, what I can do? That _we _can do?"

"What is it that you can do?"

"All sorts," breathed Riddle. A flush of excitement was rising up his neck into his hollow cheeks; he looked fevered. "I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who hurt my sister or annoy me. I can make them hurt if I want to."

Ella blinked, "I... I move things sometimes. Or... once my hair grew back after one of the kids chopped it off..."

"I knew we were different," Tom whispered to his own quivering fingers. "I knew we were special. Always, I knew there was something." He looked at his sister, who just stared back at him.

"Well, you were quite right," said Dumbledore, who was no longer smiling, but watching Tom intently. "You are a wizard, and Ella is a witch."

Both Riddles turned to face him. Ella's face was calm, unreadable. But Tom's face was transfigured: There was a wild happiness upon it, yet for some reason it did not make him better looking; on the contrary, his finely carved features seemed somehow rougher, his expression almost bestial.

"Are you a wizard too?"

"Yes, I am."

"Prove it," said Tom at once, in a strangely commanding tone.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "If, as I take it, you are accepting your place at Hogwarts —"

"Of course we are!" Tom replied for both of them.

"Then you will address me as 'Professor' or 'sir.'"

Riddle's expression hardened for the most fleeting moment before he said, in an unrecognisably polite voice, "I'm sorry, sir. I meant — please, Professor, could you show us —?"

Dumbledore drew his wand from an inside pocket of his suit jacket, pointed it at the shabby wardrobe in the corner, and gave the wand a casual flick.

The wardrobe turned into a peacock.

Ella let out a startled scream and jumped to hide behind the bed. But even as Riddle rounded on Dumbledore, the peacock vanished, leaving the wardrobe back as it was.

Ella came back up on the bed, her cheeks tinted red. Embarrassed for having been scared by a oversized bird, magical or not.

Tom stared from the wardrobe to Dumbledore.

"Where can we get one of them?" Ella asked quietly, pointing at his wand.

"All in good time," said Dumbledore. "I think there is something trying to get out of your wardrobe."

Ella frowned. She glanced at the wardrobe - then at Tom.

And sure enough, a faint rattling could be heard from inside it. For the first time, Tom looked frightened.

"Open the door," said Dumbledore.

Tom hesitated, then crossed the room and threw open the wardrobe door. On the topmost shelf, above a rail of threadbare clothes, a small cardboard box was shaking and rattling as though there were several frantic mice trapped inside it.

"Take it out," said Dumbledore.

Riddle took down the quaking box. He looked unnerved.

"Is there anything in that box that you ought not to have?" asked Dumbledore.

Tom threw Dumbledore a long, clear, calculating look. "Yes, I suppose so, sir," he said finally, in an expressionless voice.

"Open it," said Dumbledore.

He took off the lid and tipped the contents onto his bed without looking at them. A mess of small, everyday objects: a yo-yo, a silver thimble, and a tarnished mouth organ among them. Once free of the box, they stopped quivering and lay quite still upon the thin blankets.

"Tom! Those are..." Ella began, but Tom shot her a dirty look. She went quiet instantly.

"You will return them to their owners with your apologies," said Dumbledore calmly, putting his wand back into his jacket. "I shall know whether it has been done. And be warned: Thieving is not tolerated at Hogwarts."

Tom did not look remotely abashed; he was still staring coldly and appraisingly at Dumbledore. At last he said in a colourless voice, "Yes, sir."

"At Hogwarts," Dumbledore went on, "we teach you not only to use magic, but to control it. You have — inadvertently, I am sure — been using your powers in a way that is neither taught nor tolerated at our school. You are not the first, nor will you be the last, to allow your magic to run away with you. But you should know that Hogwarts can expel students, and the Ministry of Magic — yes, there is a Ministry — will punish lawbreakers still more severely. All new wizards must accept that, in entering our world, they abide by our laws."

"Yes, sir," said Tom again.

It was impossible to tell what he was thinking; his face remained quite blank as he put the little cache of stolen objects back into the cardboard box. When he had finished, he turned to Dumbledore and said baldly, "We haven't got any money."

"That is easily remedied," said Dumbledore, drawing a leather money-pouch from his pocket.

"There is a fund at Hogwarts for those who require assistance to buy books and robes. You might have to buy some of your spellbooks and so on secondhand, but —"

"Where do you buy spellbooks?" interrupted Tom, who had taken the heavy money bag without thanking Dumbledore, and was now examining a fat gold Galleon.

"In Diagon Alley," said Dumbledore. "I have your list of books and school equipment with me. I can help you find everything —"

"You're coming with us?" asked Riddle, looking up.

"Certainly, if you —"

"We don't need you," said Riddle. "We're used to doing things for ourselves, we go round London on our own all the time. How do you get to this Diagon Alley — sir?" he added, catching Dumbledore's eye.

Dumbledore handed the Riddles two envelopes containing their lists of equipment, and after telling them exactly how to get to the Leaky Cauldron from the orphanage, he said, "You will be able to see it, although Muggles around you — non-magical people, that is — will not. Ask for Tom the barman — easy enough to remember, as he shares your name —"

Tom gave an irritable twitch, as though trying to displace an irksome fly.

"You dislike the name 'Tom'?"

"There are a lot of Toms," muttered the boy. Then, as though he could not suppress the question, as though it burst from him in spite of himself, he asked, "Was our father a wizard? He was called Tom Riddle too, they've told me."

"I'm afraid I don't know," said Dumbledore, his voice gentle.

"Our mother can't have been magic, or she wouldn't have died," said Riddle, more to himself than Dumbledore. "It must've been him. So — when we get all our stuff — when do we come to this Hogwarts?"

"All the details are on the second piece of parchment in your envelopes," said Dumbledore. "You will leave from King's Cross Station on the first of September. There are train tickets in there too."

Riddle nodded. Dumbledore got to his feet and held out his hand again. The handshake was broken; Dumbledore was at the door.

"Good-bye, Tom, Ella. I shall see you at Hogwarts."

* * *

**So that's the prologue. Much of this chapter was taken from Dumbledore's memory of his first meeting with Tom Riddle, changed to suit the addition of a sister. You'll notice she didn't speak much here, it's just something I'm working with. She will play a more prominent role from next chapter. I simply didn't want to taint that memory, while still keeping Tom relatively as he was, and even show the more dominating side of his, as he was the one to speak to Dumbledore the most.**

**Anyway, reviews would be much appreciated.**

**Cheers,**

**Lee**


	2. Chapter 1 - The Riddle of Diagon Alley

**Disclaimer: I'm not even blonde, or British, so I am not our beloved Joanne. I don't own Harry Potter, only Ella Riddle.**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - The Riddle of Diagon Alley**

It took them two whole hours of wondering around to find it.

But there it was, in all it's dark, shabby glory. The wooden sign creaked, swinging just above the door - The Leaky Cauldron -it said.

It seemed so odd, so out of place, wedged between the pristine looking bookshop, with it's big glass windows and the brightly coloured record shop. In fact, it looked no better than Wool's orphanage, perhaps only slightly. It was supposed to be magical after all.

And yet, it was no surprise it took them so long to find it. No one seemed to notice it at all. The passers-by barely threw it a single glance, if any at all. It was as if they weren't supposed to notice it.

_And they weren't, _thought Ella.

They both stood on the pavement, staring at the chipped, wooden door. Ella held her breath, her whole body started shaking. She could feel her heart thumping wildly in her chest, the rhythmic drumming played loudly in her ears. Yet, she was completely still, unable to move a single muscle.

Despite its underwhelming appearance, the though of entering the Leaky Cauldron was suddenly much scarier than anything else. Her mind was assaulted with all the possible bad outcomes.

_What if I can't do any spells?_

_What if everyone else does so much better than me?_

_What if I won't be accepted?_

_Or if Tom and I are put into different houses?_

_If he finds other friends and I'm left all alone?_

"Ella, calm down." said Tom. She jumped slightly, finally letting out the breath she didn't quite realise she was holding. "It's going to be fine. I'll protect you." He said and smiled.

She smiled back, laughing slightly. "I know. I just... this is big. It will change everything. And that's kind of scary."

"I know. But it's going to be better. Different, but better."

The twins quieted down, brown eyes looking back at green. Suddenly, they broke out into identical grins.

Yes, this was going to be much better.

Ella grabbed Toms hand and squeezed it. Ignoring everyone else around them, they walked forward, pushing the creaky door forward they entered the Leaky Cauldron.

It was just as unimpressive as the outside, dim and shabby. Everything had to be at least a couple of centuries old, probably even the patrons sat at the bar. But to the two eleven year olds it was one of the most amazing things they had seen.

Not unlike Professor Dumbledore, the people in the pub were dressed quite strangely. In fact, they wore robes, all shapes, sizes and colours. Pointed wizards hats here and there, some owls sleeping up high on the heavy beams. The man in the corner was stirring his tea with just a wave of his finger and the waiter was levitating multiple plates in the air as he walked between the tables.

Neither Ella nor Tom were ever sure, even many years after, what was it that completely convinced them that it was truly their world.

Behind the bar stood a man, he was busying himself with collecting the countless empty pint glasses on from the bar and washing them with care.

"There he is, look. I'm sure that's the guy." Ella whispered. She was semi hidden behind her brother, this was one of the few moments she thanked whoever it was to be thanked that she was the shorter twin.

Tom frowned. There was the _other_ Tom. He knew, of course, that Tom was quite a common name. But up to this point, he had never met another Tom. He didn't like it, the feeling of being so... mundane. He let go of Ella's hand and put his arm around her. He didn't want this other Tom, or anyone else for that matter, to even look at his baby sister (while only eleven years old, he was very much aware of how other men thought; and Ella was a very pretty girl who was already starting to develop), but such things were unavoidable.

She looked up at him and smiled, unaware of his thought process. She felt safer, less nervous about everything.

They walked up to the bar together, and Tom cleared his throat. The bartender looked up and smiled. "Ah, first years for Hogwarts I'm guessing?" At their nods, he walked out from behind the bar. The man was quite used to this, it seemed, as he led them through the pub, he never asked a single question, he just went on to tell them about how the Leaky Cauldron was opened in the fifteen hundreds by a witch named Daisy Dodderidge (a brilliant woman, and an even better landlady, according to Tom the Barkeep).

He led them out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.

A dead-end?

The Riddle's looked confused.

"Not to worry there kids." The barkeep said, counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.

"Three up... two across..." he muttered. "Right, stand back."

He tapped the wall three times with the point of his wand.

The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for a giant, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome," said Tom the Barkeep, "to Diagon Alley."

He grinned at the Riddle's amazement. "Well, go on then. I'll be heading back to the bar."

The twins stepped through the archway. Ella looked quickly over her shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.

The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons — All Sizes — Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.

"Right... We'll be needing a pair of those. And... you have your list... right?"

Ella fumbled in her dress pockets and pulled out a folded up parchment. Carefully, she unfolded the yellow paper and read out loud.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_UNIFORM_

_First-year students will require:_

_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_

_COURSE BOOKS_

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set of glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope set_

_1 brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN_

_BROOMSTICKS_

"What should we get first?" asked Ella. Who at the moment, looked quite pale.

"Let's get the cauldrons first, then we'll have where to put the other things in. And then we can just work our way trough the list... Well get the wands last, I think."

As they made their way through Diagon Alley, buying everything that was on the list, Ella desperately wished she had about eight more eyes. She wanted to visit all the shops, but was quite aware that Tom would be annoyed with her for wanting to take up so much of their time. She knew – even if he tried to hide it – that he wanted to finally get a wand.

They got their uniforms in a second-hand shop, and luckily they didn't look too used. For books, they went in to Flourish and Blott's. The little bookshop was filled with shelves upon shelves of school books, novels and the like. Ella slowly inhaled, she loved the smell of books, new _and _old.

"I'll get the school books, you go on and explore. We might be able to afford an extra book not on the list." Tom said. Ella broke into a huge smile. She jumped at her brother, enveloping him into a huge hug.

"Oh thank you Tom!" She whispered into his ear and kissed him on the cheek before running off between the bookshelves.

Tom's eyes were closed, a silly smile adorned his pale face. He gently touched his cheek, right where Ella had kissed him. He could still smell her lingering scent, _raspberries_.

* * *

Ella wandered through the literary maze, her eyes darting from cover to cover. Her heart ached at the thought of not being able to take all the books with her. But she knew that it was impossible, so she settled for finding the right one.

And there it was, _Hogwarts: A History. _She grabbed the book immediately.

"Excuse me, but I was going to get that." Someone said, just from behind her. Ella jumped, nearly dropping her precious book.

"Well then, you should have grabbed it first." She faced the voice. Who turned out to be a boy – she nearly guessed it was a girl – he looked about her age. Black hair that reached his shoulders and stormy grey eyes. He wore expensive looking robes.

"Like what you see?" He mused.

Ella scoffed. "Not really, and for your information. I got to the book first. So it's mine."

The boy stared at her for a minute, then smiled. Ella could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks, for an eleven year old, he was quite handsome.

"I suppose you're right." Said the boy.

"I suppose I am." Ella replied snootily.

"I can see you're a Ravenclaw in the making." He laughed. "I'm Alphard, Alphard Black." Alphard held out his hand.

"Ella Riddle." She took his hand. Alphard gently pressed his lips against the back of her hand. Ella blushed, again. She was unfamiliar with boys behaving in such way.

Alphard released her hand, "It was a pleasure to meet you Miss Riddle. I hope I'll get to see you on the train." He winked and walked off. Leaving a stunned Ella to stand there.

Moments later she heard Tom calling her name. Taking in a deep breath, she followed the sound of her brother's voice.

They paid for all the books, quills, ink wells, and many rolls of parchment – which was surprisingly cheap – and headed out towards Ollivanders.

The shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that they placed their purchases on. Ella felt strangely as though she had entered a very strict library; she swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to her and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of her neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Ella jumped. Tom must have jumped too, because Ella heard the floor behind her creak.

An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.

"Hello," the Riddle's raid awkwardly.

"We're here to buy our wands..." Ella said meekly.

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Ella. Ella wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.

Tom glared at the old man. But Ollivander took no notice of it. He was focusing solely on Ella Riddle.

Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Ella were almost nose to nose. Ella could see herself reflected in those misty eyes.

"My... my name is Ella Riddle," she squeaked. "And that's my brother Tom." She tried, hoping Ollivander would stop staring at her. Tom didn't look any happier than she was.

"Hmm... Miss Riddle. Let me see." Said Ollivander. He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Er... well, I'm right-handed," said Ella.

"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Ella from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Miss Riddle. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another witches wand." Ella suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between her nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.

"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Miss Riddle. Try this one. Blackthorn and phoenix feather. Eight inches. A little stiff. just take it and give it a wave."

Ella took the wand and (feeling quite silly) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand almost at once.

"Laurel and unicorn hair. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —"

Ella tried — but she had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.

"No, no — here, walnut and dragon heartstring, ten and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

Ella took the wand. She felt a sudden warmth in her fingers. She raised the wand above her head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of blue sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Tom clapped happily and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... It seems we might expect great things from you Miss Riddle... _If _you manage to tame your wand."

"Tame my wand?" Ella frowned.

"Oh yes, quite so... It is the wand that chooses the wizard Miss Riddle."

Ella was about to ask more, but Mr. Ollivander had already turned to her brother. She was forgotten, for now.

"Now, Mr. Riddle. Lets see if we can match you, " said Ollivander.

"I'm right-handed," Tom said, before Ollivander could ask.

"Hmm... indeed. Hold out your arm." Once again, the measure tape was put to work and Ollivander wondered off back to the wands.

"Here you go Mr. Riddle. Try this one," Ollivander said. The tape measure fell neatly back to the floor. "Ash wood and unicorn hair, surprisingly swishy..." Tom tried – he hardly touched it when Ollivander snatched it back.

"No no, that's all wrong. Try this one – black walnut and dragon heartstring, a tad stiff."

Tom tried. And tried. He was lost track of how many wands he had tried. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — yew and phoenix feather, thirteen and a half inches, a little rigid."

Tom took the wand. He felt a pleasant tingle run down his spine. He raised the wand and swished it lightly, green and silver sparks shot from the end, Ella hugged him from behind. Tom could hear her mutter – _Finally, _- into his back. He chuckled lightly.

Ollivander stared at Tom, a strange expression adorning his face. "I think we must expect great things from you Mr. Riddle." He watched Ella wander to the door. "Even more so with your sister at your side. It seems, you two could be quite formidable..."

Tom frowned. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid fourteen gold Galleons for their wands, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Ella and Tom made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. It didn't take them too long to wonder back to Wool's orphanage.

There was nobody there to greet them. The inhabitants of Wool's orphanage were having dinner, you could hear the loud noises coming from the dining room.

Neither of the twins were hungry.

They headed up to their room, excited to examine everything they bought. It wasn't until Mrs. Cole came in and told them to go to bed that they stopped reading their school books. Quietly, they went to sleep. Although, Tom couldn't sleep for a while, his mind whirling, imagining what Hogwarts would be like, counting the days. He watched Ella sleep, chuckling at her incoherent midnight ramblings. Tom wondered what she dreamt about. He fell asleep watching her.

* * *

September 1st they awoke with the sun, getting everything ready, they said goodbye to Mrs. Cole and left before the other kids realised they were gone.

Platform 9 and 3 quarters was not at all hard to find. They were one of the first students on the train. Tom picked a compartment, and they somehow managed to shove their trunks above the seats and sat down comfortably.

Once students and their families started to arrive, the train filled up with chatter. Their compartment door slid open to reveal a tiny blonde girl with dark blue eyes.

"Hello. May I join you two? Everywhere else is full, and I sort of don't fancy sitting alone." She smiled brightly.

Tom looked ready to refuse, but Ella replied first. "Sure, come on in. I'm Ella Riddle." She stood up to help the girl drag her trunk into the compartment.

"Thanks. Lucia Moon. It's nice to meet you." Lucia said. She glanced at Tom.

"Tom Riddle," he said. He was looking out the window, not bothering to even glance at the new comer.

Lucia looked back at Ella, her elegant blonde eyebrow raised in question.

"Don't mind my brother, he's a bit of a grumpy pants today." Ella whispered. Lucia giggled and sat down next to her.

The girls chatted for hours, until the food trolley came by. At which point Lucia bought a bit of everything and shared it all with the twins.

Eventually even Tom joined in their chat.

"Are you two muggleborn?" Lucia asked. She was munching on a pumpkin pastie.

"Why?" Tom asked.

"Sorry, I'm just a bit nosey. I'm a pureblood myself. But my parents are a bit odd, and they don't really buy into the whole purebloods-are-better thing."

"We don't really know. We never met our parents." Ella stated simply. Lucia frowned.

"Oh...sorry. Never mind then." She mumbled. "Do you know what house you want to be in? I'd like to be in Ravenclaw. My parent's were both Ravenclaws."

"We'll be in Slytherin," said Tom. Ella shrugged. She wasn't so sure she would end up in Slytherin. From what she read about the Hogwarts houses, Ella was more likely to end up in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. Even Gryffindor.

"How exactly do we get sorted?" Ella asked.

"Honestly... I'm not sure. My parents insist that we'll have to fight a dragon. But then my aunt Melania says we'll have to find a counter spell for some ancient Celtic spell." She saw Ella and Tom's pale faces, they both stared at the girl wide-eyed.

Lucia laughed nervously. "Oh don't worry, if that happens. We will all fail. And I think this is just some old tradition, where the parents never tell you what happens." She looked around - then whispered, "I heard from some of my distant cousins that whatever it is, it's not really hard. Apparently, the parents really are messing with everyone."

"Lets hope so," Ella mumbled.

An announcement rang, letting everyone know that they would be arriving at Hogsmeade station soon. Tom grabbed his robes and left the compartment so the girls could get changed.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Ella shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Ella heard a voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

"C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" Slipping and stumbling, they followed the man down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Ella thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," the man called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" the man called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Ella and Tom were followed into their boat by Lucia and another student.

"Everyone in?" the man shouted, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" the man yelled as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here?"

The man raised his large fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open at once. A tall, auburn-haired wizard in plum robes stood there. Ella recognised him at once.

"The firs' years, Professor Dumbledore," said the man.

"Thank you, Mr. Ogg. I will take them from here."

He pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit a whole house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor Dumbledore across the flagged stone floor. Ella could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already be here — but Professor Dumbledore showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall.

They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor Dumbledore. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor Dumbledore. "Please wait quietly."

He left the chamber. Ella swallowed.

She looked around, everyone seemed far too nervous to make small talk.

"The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor Dumbledore had returned.

"Now, form a line," Professor Dumbledore told the first years, "and follow me."

Feeling oddly as though her legs had turned to lead, Ella got into line behind a boy with messy brown hair, with Tom behind her, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. Ella had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor Dumbledore led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Ella looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars.

Ella quickly looked down again as Professor Dumbledore silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool he put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_if you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!_"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

Professor Dumbledore now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," he said. "Avery, William!"

A skinny, brown haired boy walked out of the line, put on the hat, which fell down over his eyes, and sat down. A moments pause -

"SLYTHERIN!" shouted the hat.

The table on the left clapped politely as Avery went to sit down with his new house.

"Black, Alphard!"

The hat remained silent for only a moment, "RAVENCLAW!" It shouted.

The second table from the left cheered, Alphard slipped the hat off and quickly joined his new housemates.

"Crouch, Phoebe!"

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat again, Phoebe soon joined Alphard.

"Diggory, Lorcan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" This time, the table on the right clapped and cheered as Lorcan joined them at the table.

Ella was starting to chew her cheek. Being at the end of the list was nerve racking.

"Lestrange, Eric" became another Slytherin. While "MacMillan, Godfrey" was the first to join the Gryffindor table.

"Mulbicer, Conrad" then became a Slytherin.

"Moon, Lucia!"

Ella looked up, curious to see where her new friend would go. The hat deliberated only a moment longer, before shouting: "RAVENCLAW!"

"Nott, Sebastian" was another Slytherin, and then. Her heart nearly stopped.

"Riddle, Ella!"

Oh no, she was wrong. Her heart didn't stop, but it did feel like it was trying to get out of get chest. She walked to the stool and put the hat on, then sat down. She waited.

"Hmm..." said a small voice in her head. Ella nearly chocked. _Was she going insane?_

"Oh no dear girl, you are quite sane I'm afraid," said the voice. _Ah, the sorting hat then. _She deduced.

"Yes, very clever. I am the sorting hat. So where should I put you... Hmm... You've got courage, and plenty of loyalty. Ah, there it is... that thirst for knowledge. " Ella didn't have time to think anything else, when the hat shouted out: "RAVENCLAW!".

She quickly slipped the hat off and ran to the blue and bronze table, where she was greeted by everyone. Ella looked back at Tom, he was frowning at her.

"Riddle, Tom!" Professor Dumbledore called out.

Tom walked to the stool and placed the hat on his head. Ella watched his face, wondering what the hat was saying to him. She was sure that Tom was trying to get the hat to put him into Ravenclaw. Tom's eyes suddenly widened, and the hat yelled out: "SLYTHERIN!"

Ella could see that Tom was very unhappy with the hat, and probably with her. They promised they wouldn't be separated.

She tried to catch his eyes, but he didn't even look at her. His face betrayed no emotion.

Ella was worried.

* * *

**Hmmm... I'm not happy with this chapter. Not at all. Tell me what you think? Would you prefer a slow go, or a skip to the fifth year or so when the action begins?**

**And I'm so sorry about the delay, I tried to write this chapter in so many ways. I was quite stuck. I still don't like it, but the more important things happen in the future, just had to get this out of the way.**

**Also, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read and review this story. And thank you so so much for those who added it to their alert/favourite lists. This means so much to me, I honestly didn't expect to have even this much. So thank you everyone. :)**

**On a different note, how many of you are on Pottermore? If you are, what house are you in and what wand do you own?**

**I'm in Slytherin and my wand is suprisingly swishy 10 3/4 inch, ebony wand with a unicorn hair core.**

**While writing this I read about all the wood for wands, and I tried to get the wood to mean something. Except for Tom's, his wand is already there.**

**If you see any mistakes, please let me know. And if anyone wants to be a beta for me, it would be very much appreciated.**

**Cheers,**

**Lee.**


	3. Chapter 2 - The Riddle of Slytherin

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything, except for the ridiculously geeky Harry Potter tattoo on my arm, Ella Riddle and some other characters you may have never heard of. (List may be given if asked).**

* * *

**Chapter 2 – The Riddle of House Slytherin – Part 1**

Tom sat patiently on the little wooden stool, the Sorting Hat was much too large for his head, the only thing he could see was the dark insides of the hat.

_Exactly what am I waiting for? _He thought.

A small chuckle rang in his ear. "Well... That would be me dear lad. It seems you're quite the natural occlumens. It took me a little while to get into your noggin'." The Hat said.

Tom stiffened.

_You've read my thoughts? _

He wanted to scream and tear the mangy old hat on the floor.

"Aye, that I can. But I'm afraid I won't be able to sort you if you go and tear me off." Said the Hat. "Ah, don't worry lad. I cannot reveal any of the students secrets to anyone."

Tom sighed and relaxed slightly.

_Well then hat. Put me in Ravenclaw,_ he demanded.

"Hmm... yes, I can see that there is a great thirst for knowledge. However, it does not seem that you wish to gain the knowledge for the sake of knowledge. No, you require it to further your goals. How very Slytherin of you. Yes... you would do very well in Slytherin."

_No! Put me in Ravenclaw! I need to be with Ella! _Tom screamed in his head. He wanted to make the hat see that he had to be with Ella, they belonged together.

"Ravenclaw then?" The Hat asked. "No. I don't think that would do. Not at all... after all, Salazar Slytherin would be very disappointed with me if I put his first worthy heir into Ravenclaw."

His eyes widened. He repeated the Hat's words in his mind.

_The heir of Salazar Slytherin?_He asked. But it was already too late, the Sorting Hat shouted out: "SLYTHERIN!"

As he pulled the hat of his head and placed it back onto the stool Tom battled with an undeniably tempting urge to set the Sorting Hat on fire. He fought it back, barely managing to stop his face from contorting into a vicious snarl.

He walked to the silver and green table and sat down next to the other first years. Tom didn't hear who was called to be sorted after him or what some other Slytherins were whispering about, his mind was buzzing.

He kept his face blank. Glancing at Ella, he barely stopped himself from scowling. There, right next to her stood the boy from the bookshop. He was chatting with his sister, with the most annoying smirk on his face.

Tom glared at the boy.

While Ella was unaware of it, Tom saw the infuriating little ponce talk to his sister. He was about to swoop in and scare the brat away, but he walked off before Tom could do anything.

Tom wasn't really sure why he didn't mention it, he knew he was more than pissed off at what had happened.

And yet, something stopped him.

He wasn't sure what it was. Perhaps the strange feeling bubbling at his chest when he saw the other boy kiss Ella's hand. Or perhaps it was the look of pure joy on her face when she came back with the book she had picked. He wasn't sure at all.

Tom watched the Ravenclaw table as he ate. The heavy feeling on his chest was back. Ella was talking to that guy between bites; she laughed at something he said. Tom couldn't stop himself from glaring at him again. He forced himself to look away from the Ravenclaw table and engage the other Slytherin students around him in conversation.

* * *

The Slytherin common room was a dimly lit dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. The dungeon extended out partway into the lake, giving the room a green tinge. It had lots of low-backed black and dark green button-tufted sofas; skulls; and dark wood cupboards. The walls were decorated with tapestries featuring the adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins, and just above the fireplace hung a grandiose golden frame, the picture inside depicted an old potions laboratory: the cauldrons puffed out different coloured smoke every once in a while. The common room had quite a grand atmosphere.

Tom loved it. Although, the first time he saw the giant squid appear in the window he let out a startled yelp, luckily no one was there to see his little embarrassment. But after the incident he spent many evenings watching the many strange aquatic creatures swim by the windows, the sound of swishing water relaxing him as he did his homework.

* * *

It was early October when the other Slytherins finally paid attention to Tom.

He was sitting by the window, writing an essay for potions about the importance of knowing the properties of the ingredients when Walburga Black, a third year, walked up to him. Her long dark hair was pinned up into a tight bun, pulling at the skin of her face rather oddly; not a single hair was out of place. She was no longer wearing her uniform, instead, donning a dark brown robe; a gaudy sapphire necklace hung from her neck. Her grey eyes gleamed viciously.

Tom looked up at the girl, noting that everyone was looking at them.

"Yes?" Tom said.

"Riddle... I don't believe that's a wizard name. Not one I've ever heard at least." Walburga said loudly, turning more heads to them. "In fact... I think that it's a muggle name." Eyebrows rose around the room, although many did not seem surprised.

Tom scowled.

"So what if it is?" He said.

Walburga grinned, "That means you're a **mudblood**. "

Tom mistakenly let his confusion show. Which made Walburga Black grin even more. "I'm right. You **are** a mudblood. Obviously, you don't even know what it means."

The other Slytherins in the common room started chatting amongst themselves quietly, eager to hear how would the situation develop.

Tom glared up at the girl. Her face became more serious.

"I don't know how a mudblood got into the noble house of Slytherin," she spat. "But stay away from everyone. We don't want you to contaminate us with your filthy muggle blood. So stay quiet and out of the way." She turned around and walked off, her friends surrounded her instantly, giggling and talking like nothing happened. They all looked away from Tom, choosing to ignore his presence.

Tom's face became stoic. He looked out the window, fighting back a little smile when the giant squid swam by, giving him a little wave with one of his tentacles.

He sat there for hours, long after everyone else left. The shadows in the room danced at the flickering of the lights. Tom was thinking of his new situation. _Mudblood, _ the word annoyed him. But he had to admit to himself that, while Walburga Black was inconceivably irritating, she brought him a revelation. His father was not a wizard.

_So it must have been our mother._

Tom sneered. He hated the very thought of the woman who was so weak that she chose to die, rather than use magic and save herself. What was worse in his eyes, she died and nearly took Ella with her.

Pausing for a moment, he tried to remember his mothers name. Mrs. Cole had told him a few years ago... _Merope Gaunt._ Now that he forced himself to think about it, the name seemed much more wizard-like.

He jotted down a few notes, intending to research his mother and her family. He put everything back into his school bag and walked up the stairs into the boys dormitory. Tom was nearly at the top of the stairs when he heard a strangely familiar noise. It made him stop in his tracks. He looked down and listened carefully.

There it was... hissing. _Parseltongue!_

Tom dropped everything and ran down the stairs. He looked frantically around the room, looking for something, _anything, _that could have hissed. Tom's dark eyes caught green ones, he gasped.

The large golden frame was no longer empty.

A rather imposing man occupied the frame. He wore dark green silk tunic, embroidered with a silver thread. His shoulder length black greying hair hung loosely, framing his pale face. Vivid green eyes stared at Tom unblinkingly.

_§Hello there, young Slytherin,§_ The man in the portrait hissed. It took Tom all of three seconds to realise who the man was.

_§Salazar Slytherin, a pleasure to meet you sir._ _§ _Tom said, bowing his head slightly to honour one of the Hogwarts founders. Salazar didn't look surprised.

_§ Ah, so you are my heir. I was informed that a worthy heir finally entered Hogwarts.§ _said Salazar. He looked pensively at Tom. _§What is your name young Slytherin?§ _he asked.

_§My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle,§ s_aid Tom.

_§_ _Tell me Marvolo,§ _Slytherin said. Tom couldn't help but notice the man's use of his second name. _§__what remains of my descendants? Are there many left? §_ he asked.

_§ There is only me and my sister. Our mother died in childbirth and I'm not aware of any others still alive. We were raised in an orphanage.§ _Tom said truthfully.

_§A girl? As Lord Slytherin it will be your duty to pick a proper husband for her, I have suffered enough... seeing my family destroyed by the greedy bastards that married my descendants. Tell me, what is her name?§_ Salazar asked.

Tom wanted to frown.

_Marry Ella off to someone proper?_

Tom's first thought was Alphard Black. He seemed to have taken a liking to Ella, which Tom didn't like one bit. He straightened up and looked his ancestor in the eye. §Her name is Ella June Riddle.§

_§Sir... you mentioned something about being Lord Slytherin?_§ Tom asked quickly, before the man in the portrait could say anything else. Salazar's lips twitched into a small smile.

_§Yes young Slytherin. But you will have to talk to the Goblins about that. They will be the ones to decide if you and your blood are pure enough to take on the Lordship.§ _Slytherin said, perhaps not noticing the flash of worry on Tom's face at the mention of blood. _§I will retire now Tom Riddle, no more questions. But may we talk again. Although I can not promise you that.§ _He turned around in the painting and disappeared somewhere in the background.

Tom stood there for a while, staring at the gently simmering oil painted cauldrons, thinking about Slytherins words. He was worried, although the Sorting Hat said he was an heir, that did not mean his blood would pass the test. No matter how much he would love to become lord and rub that fact into the faces of those snobs who dared mock him, in the end, it wasn't up to him.

* * *

Tom saw her sitting there all alone, surrounded by at least ten books, her hawk-feather quill scribbling away on the scroll at a unimaginably high speed. Ella was so engrossed into what she was doing that she didn't notice him walk up to her library table. He watched her, a little smirk playing on his face. He drew his wand out and muttered _Wingardium Leviosa_ while pointing at her quill. She gasped as it flew upwards, trying to catch it, but it was too high.

Ella looked down and finally saw Tom. A sheepish smile graced her face.

"Hello Tom, started stealing quills now?" She asked, with a grin.

Tom chuckled, "Not quite." He let the quill float down to the desk and sat down at the table. "We need to talk, something... _unexpected_ happened." Tom whispered.

Ella raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Is it a secret then?"

_§Yes, it is. No one else can know.§_ He hissed, barely above a whisper.

_§This really must be huge if you want to risk using parseltongue in the library.§_ She replied the same manner. _§What is it then?§_

_§Salazar Slytherin... I talked to his portrait last night... He... he confirmed it. I am his heir.§_

_§What? Really? Are you serious?§_

_§Yes... the empty portrait I told you about? It's his one of his portraits.§_

Ella gasped, amazed with his story. She listened to him tell her everything that Salazar Slytherin said, how he looked, _how_ he talked, everything about their ancestor.

_§But... doesn't this mean that you would have to be a pureblood to be Lord Slytherin?§_ she asked, frowning.

Tom shrugged, _§I don't really know. I hope not. But Slytherin didn't specify, he only mentioned §_

* * *

First year was weird for a certain Tom Riddle. Before coming to Hogwarts he never considered the possibility of talking to an ancestor, being able to fly on a broomstick or even that he'd gain anyone's respect.

But he did. With some effort, he became the top male student in his year, which apparently earned him some respect from Alaric Rosier and his cousin Druella Rosier, since they found him on the train back to London to simply have a chat with him.

It felt odd, to have someone go out of their way to look for him, without the intent to try and physically hurt him.

He introduced the Rosier cousins to Ella – after all, she was right there in the compartment – and they all just talked for the rest of the train ride. Druella and Ella hit it off immediately. They found it funny that their names rhymed. But when they started talking about such girly things like _make up,_Tom was absolutely lost.

He talked with Alaric about their goals for next year; Alaric's top priority apparently was to get into the Quidditch team. Which, Tom realised, was a way for him to gain more respect from his house. He hated being ignored by them; the other Slytherins thought they were better than him, but he resolved to prove them all wrong, he resolved to make them all bow to him.

And one way, or another, they would.

* * *

**Hello my beloved readers! This chapter is a little shorter than the previous ones. I'm just trying to get through the first few years, but since nothing really substantial happens (at least not first year) it will be a bit short. So do excuse me for that. But I will try to get through them all, from Tom's point of view first, and then you'll see it from Ella's (which I will do my best to make different, after all she is in a different house).**

**Really not much happened, but you may expect the next chapter either tomorrow or the next day.**

**I would like to again take the time to say thank you to everyone who read, alerted/favourited, and reviewed. If it's not too much, I would like to ask everyone to write the longest reviews they can. The longest one will get a reward.**

**What's the reward you may ask?**

**Well, it's that you may ask me any question you would like, PM only, and I will answer it. But be warned, if you ask a spoiler-y question, you will get such an answer. But if you don't want to be spoiled, just tell me and I will answer without any proper spoiler details. **

**So what is your Pottermore house? Any other Slytherin's out there?**

**Love you all, **

**Lee. **

**P.S. The more reviews I get, the faster I will write. Who knows, two or three chapters might even come out at the same time. (If I'm fast enough). **


	4. Notice

**Hello everyone, **

**just a quick notice. From now on I will be changing the rating of the story from T to M due to future content, there will be swearing and some other mature content that may be offensive and not suitable for younger people. **

**I figured I'd let you all know now, before it's too late. **

**But if you don't mind, then please do read on. It makes me so happy to see the views and reviews. **

**See you soon, **

**Lee.**


	5. Chapter 2 - Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from this, so please don't sue me. The only thing I own is Ella June Riddle. **

* * *

**Chapter 2 – The Riddle of Slytherin House – Part 2**

Tom Riddle hated summer. Or rather, he hated the fact that he was forced back to Wool's Orphanage for the summer.

He hated it. He hated all the dingy grey walls, the shabby colourless curtains and the ever-dirty windows and all the filthy _muggles_.

But he couldn't leave and he couldn't do magic.

He spent most of his summer in his room, reading and re-reading his first year school books. And when he and Ella finally got the chance to go to Diagon Alley in August for school shopping, he was overjoyed. Ella was nearly skipping, all the way to the Leaky Cauldron, but he couldn't blame her though, he felt like skipping too.

They said a quick hello to Tom the Bartender and, with as much dignity two soon-to-be second years could muster, rushed towards the back alley and into Diagon. When they reached Gringotts, both twins looked at the building with open curiosity.

The imposing snow-white multi-storied building towered over neighbouring shops. A set of white stairs lead up to a set of burnished bronze doors, flanked by a goblin in a uniform of scarlet and gold. The twins made their way up the stairs. Ella glanced at the goblin guard nervously, who didn't seem to notice her at all. They walked through the bronze doors into a small entrance hall, and another set of doors. Engraved on these silver doors were the words:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn. _

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

These doors were flanked by two goblins, unmoving, just like the first one. They walked through the silver doors into a vast marble hall, long counters stretched across its length with doors leading off to the vault with around a hundred goblins sitting at them.

Tom walked towards one of the goblin tellers that wasn't busy with a client, Ella walking right behind him, she was glancing around the hall curiously. He cleared his throat, "Excuse me...sir? I'm here to take out the Hogwarts stipend? For the Riddle twins?"

The goblin looked at him, raising a white bushy brow; he took a long examining look at Tom.

"Very well then. Do you have the Hogwarts confirmation letter?" The Goblin asked. A golden name tag gleamed on his chest: Nimgruk. Tom nodded and quickly handed the letter over to him. Nimgruk put a pair of golden rimmed round glasses, closely reading every word, he examined the Hogwarts crest twice. He pulled out a heavy stamp from under the counter and slammed it onto the paper; he put both paper and stamp away.

"Everything seems in order Mr. Riddle. Your gold will be brought up shortly, is there anything else you need?" Said the goblin.

"Yes... I was informed that I am the heir of Slytherin and as such I would like to talk to the Slytherin account manager, or if there isn't one, then someone who could possibly take over in that position." Tom said, looking Nimgruk in the eye.

A younger looking goblin arrived, putting a small bag of gold on counter, Nimgruk grabbed his arm, "Go get Drogbold, tell him that the Heir of Lord Slytherin has arrived." The young goblin nodded and quickly walked off. Nimgruk handed Tom the bag of gold.

"Here you go Mr. Riddle. Manager Drogbold will arrive shortly, if you wait in the sitting area someone will come and collect you." Nimgruk said, pointing a long knobby finger towards the sitting area for clients.

Tom gave Nimgruk a short bow and turned around, only to see that Ella was missing. He glanced around and saw her already sitting on one of the dark coloured couches, reading one of the many pamphlets left on the coffee table. He sat down next to her.

"Well? What did he say?" She asked, looking up from the pamphlet about the _Expansion of Potion Use in Agriculture._

"He said that someone will be with us shortly."

Ella nodded and went back to reading the pamphlet. Tom saw the title and snorted, "Planning to be a farmer then?" He asked, laughing quietly. Ella stuck her tongue at him, although her cheeks were tinted red.

"I was just curious. I don't plan to be digging around in dirt." She said, her eyes narrowed, she elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow, easy there. I was just joking." Said Tom, rubbing his side.

Someone cleared their throat. The twins both jumped up from their seat and turned around. Just behind the couch stood an almost ancient looking goblin, his skin so pale they could see the veins in his face and his hair so white it looked like fresh snow. They quickly bowed their heads to the goblin.

"I am the Slytherin accounts manager, Drogbold. You will come with me to my office Mr. Riddle. We have much to discuss." He said. Although old, and frail looking, the goblins voice was strong and commanding. When they both moved to follow him, Drogbold held up a hand.

"I will have to stop you here." He said, looking to Tom. "The female must remain here. It is bank policy." He said to Tom. Ella looked a bit shocked at the old Goblins words.

Before Tom could say anything that could insult Drogbold, she quickly said to him, "That's alright Tom. You go on, I'll take the money and go buy our school supplies." Ella said. She then turned to the goblin, "I assume this meeting will take a while ser Drogbold?" When the goblin nodded, she looked back to Tom. "It will save us time brother."

Tom looked conflicted. He didn't want his sister to wander around Diagon Alley unattended, but he also didn't want to waste time. With a sigh, he pulled the bag out of his pocket and handed it to Ella. "Just don't go anywhere dodgy, alright?"

Ella smiled and kissed Tom on both cheeks. "Don't worry, I won't. I'll even save us money." She said walking away. With a last wave she walked out of Gringotts.

"Now then Mr. Riddle. Follow me." Drogbold said. He lead Tom through a series of long winding corridors, with many different doors adorned with golden name plates. They must have walked for a good ten minutes when Drogbold finally stopped, in front of them was a large oak door with a name plate: Senior Manager Drogbold. The goblin opened the door, with Tom following him. The office was decorated with many old weapons, hanging on the walls and just behind Drogbolds desk was a worn out armour.

"Admiring my battle armour Mr. Riddle?" Drogbold said. Tom simply nodded.

"Yes... A goblins pride is his armour... Shall we get to business then? Sit." He said, motioning to one of the empty leather chairs.

"What is it that you would like to discuss, young heir?" Asked the goblin.

"Firstly, I would like to know the status of the Slytherin family account, the funds and what I have to do in order to become Lord Slytherin." Tom said.

"Hmm... very well Mr. Riddle." Drogbold said. He opened one of the drawers in his desk and pulled out a leather bound file. He opened it, and flipped through the pages, "Ah, here we go. It appears that because your grandfather Marvolo Gaunt died, and your uncle Morfin Gaunt was sentenced to life in Azkaban for the triple homicide of three muggles in a moderately populated area... you are the last living male who is eligible for the title of Lord Slytherin. However, because you are only the heir, I cannot allow you to see anything specific about the accounts..."

Tom frowned, "Then how may I become Lord?"

"I was getting to that part Mr. Riddle." Drogbold said, clicking his tongue at the impatience of youth. "Because the Gaunts, as far as they have been married into the Slytherin line, have not come to Gringotts even once, for some reason they were under the impression that Salazar Slytherin would never leave his vast fortune in the hands of the goblins. That unfortunately means that we have many centuries worth of backed up paperwork, which will have to be finished, now that there is finally a responsible heir. Now, the other thing: to verify that you do indeed meet the requirements to become the Lord of Slytherin we need to use a very complex potion that takes six months to complete."

"I can wait six months, I could come to Gringotts over the winter holidays." Said Tom. The goblin frowned.

"I am afraid that it is not all. To have us start the potion for you, proper paperwork must be filed. And that cannot be done until the old paperwork for your account is finished."

Tom tried not to look annoyed, "And how long would that take?"

"I cannot estimate specifically, but Gringotts will owl you when we will have everything ready."

Tom sighed and stood up, "Thank you for your time Manager Drogbold. I'll await your owl. Have a good day." He said. The goblin gave him a simple nod and waved him off. Tom left the office and headed out to Diagon Alley.

* * *

The sun was already high in the sky by the time Tom left Gringotts. He momentarily stopped at the top of the white stairs to look over the Alley from a higher point of view. But he couldn't find the familiar head of long black hair. Tom jogged lightly down the stairs and headed towards the Leaky Cauldron, the dingy pub was a buzz with customers chatting away while eating their lunch. It didn't take Tom a minute to see her, Ella was sitting in the far corner, a pile of books next to her, she had already begun to read one of them.

Tom chuckled to himself quietly, amused. He dodged the other tables, and flying plates and flagons as he made his way towards her. She saw him just before Tom sat down in front of her.

"That took a while," Ella said. She put the _Charms Theory_ on top of the book pile. "I had time to buy everything on the list **and **order us lunch." She grinned. Tom rolled his eyes, he knew, of course, that Ella could barter with anyone and convince them to sell anything. When dinner arrived he told her everything the goblin had told him.

"So... he didn't tell you how long we'd have to wait for this?" She asked while dipping one of her roast potatoes in sour cream.

"No," he sighed. "I have a feeling we'll be forced back to the shit hole again."

Ella grinned, making Tom look at her like she was insane. "Perhaps, but not this year." She put a leather pouch on the table between their lunches, a few galleons fell out. Tom's eyes widened.

"Ella... where did you get this?" He whispered, quickly grabbing the pouch to have a closer look. He pulled it open to see that it was filled to the brim with gold coins. Ella just shrugged.

"Let's just say I found it on the ground... And anyway, now we can get a room here until we have to go back to Hogwarts." Said Ella. She looked him in the eye, her green eyes unblinking. And Tom knew, she did what she had to do.

She quietly put a key on the table, it had a small wooden keyring attached with the number eleven etched on it. They finished their lunch without a word and headed up to the first floor.

Room eleven was very simple, with a double bed in the middle, a fireplace and window out to muggle London. The twins left their shopping in the room and rushed back to the orphanage to take their things.

* * *

The beginning of second year rolled around soon enough. And no matter how much Tom loved sleeping with Ella in his arms, it had to stop when they got to Hogwarts.

It still killed him to have her all the way in Ravenclaw tower, while he was down in the Slytherin dungeons. But his year already started better than the last. Alaric Rosier was spending more and more time with him, so much in fact, that people had begun to call them friends. While Tom didn't consider Alaric as a friend, he said nothing about it. In fact, Alaric's presence brought something good for Tom. Rosier's cousin Druella was friends with Ella, and that meant his sister spent more time with Tom, because Druella liked to spend time with Alaric.

As the year progressed, Tom was once again the top male student of the year, most teachers absolutely loved him. And even though Albus Dumbledore seemed suspicious of Tom – almost like he expected Tom to just wake up one morning and murder someone – he was still optimistic about the year. He already knew what electives to choose for third year, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, so he could have at least a few classes with Ella – not many students picked these subjects, so students from all four houses attended them.

When the winter holidays rolled around, the castle was left almost empty. Tom began doing research about Salazar Slytherin, because the man didn't appear in his portrait any longer. He was curious, what was the man like? What was his legacy in Hogwarts?

And that's when he found it, _The Chamber of Secrets._ Ever since he read a small excerpt about the fabled chamber he became obsessed, wanting to know everything. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was very little information on the subject. So instead, Tom began searching the castle from top to bottom, trying to find even a single clue to the chambers location. He didn't want to tell Ella about it until he had something concrete. He knew her Ravenclaw mind would want some sort of factual proof before starting to physically look through the enormous castle.

He did however make progress with his fellow Slytherins, even becoming well liked by other students, helping them with homework and spellwork. Ella had told him she was very proud of him for being so helpful to everyone, even the Gryffindors. His friend circle, as Ella called it, grew. He could be often seen with William Avery, Conrad Mulbicer, Sebastian Nott and a first year Slytherin – Abraxas Malfoy. Tom did wonder more than once if they knew somehow that he was the heir of their house, but it made no difference to him.

In the first months of second year he did worry about Ella a little bit, he though that she would start looking at other males, especially Alphard Black, who seemed to hang around with her a lot. Tom had to use incredible self-control to stop himself from cringing when she referred to Black as a _friend. _Tom wanted to punch Black's face in, but then he realised that to Ella, he was just that – a friend. He laughed to quietly many times, watching Black desperately try to get his sister's attention, but she was far more interested in the Hogwarts Library, so Alphard moved on to Phoebe Crouch. Which made Tom ecstatic, he didn't need to worry about men, or rather – boys, coming on to Ella for a while, she wouldn't see them with her nose constantly in a book.

When the end of year came again, but he was nowhere near finding the chamber. And as frustrating as that was, Gringotts still hadn't sent him anything real, only small notices that they were still working through the enormous amounts of paperwork left from centuries of ignorant and lazy ancestors – although the goblins didn't put it _quite _like that.

And much to Tom's dismay, he was back at Wool's again. His only consolation was that he had Ella all to himself. Summer began again, and he remembered just how much he really hated anything and everything muggle.

* * *

**Hello again Readers, **

**a very quick update... yes? I hope you all like it. Only a few chapters left until some more exciting things happen. You'll also get to see more of Ella, hopefully you guys will like her enough. She will have her own chapters through the years, so you will get to see her view of things and a different perspective of Tom, who seems busy plotting. And what is he plotting? Well it's not that hard to guess, but will he be different? Will the future be different because he has someone who cherishes him? Maybe. Maybe he'll still be a horribly cruel dark lord. Who knows. **

**I'm very pleased with the number of people reading Unspoken Riddle, but may I ask for more reviews? I would very much like to hear your honest opinions. **

**And now... I'll go back to more writing. **

**You are all wonderful.**

**Cheerio,**

**Lee.**


	6. Chapter 2 - Part 3

**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is Ella Riddle, everything else belongs to the ever lovely JK Rowling. All hail the Queen. **

* * *

**Chapter 2 – The Riddle of Slytherin House – Part 3**

It was strange, waking up one day and realising that he became full head taller than his sister, the top of her head now only barely reached his shoulders. Tom wondered why didn't he notice anything, but that wasn't hard to figure out. Due to a certain highly embarrassing moment back in July, Tom spent the remainder of his summer almost obsessively avoiding human contact.

Said moment happened in mid July, it had been raining all week and none of the young residents of Wool's orphanage had been allowed outside. Tom was talking to one of the women that worked in the orphanage as a nurse when his voice suddenly cracked, making him sound like a squeaky mouse. Some of the other boys were not too far and heard everything, they started laughing at Tom, calling him Squeaks. While glaring at the laughing boys the nurse, Miss Ross, tried to explain that it was perfectly normal and it was nothing to laugh at.

But Tom was mortified. He rushed back to his room, deciding to hide away from the rest of the house. It was nearly the end of August by the time his voice finally evened out, even though the the little bastards still laughed at him because of the incident, he ignored them with a silent smugness, he was now much taller than the rest of them and their voices were starting to sound awfully high, while his had gotten very smooth and deep. In the end, Tom got the last laugh.

* * *

The two Riddles continued their tradition of going to Diagon Alley together; Tom tried Gringotts again, but he was only told to be more patient, these things take time. "You cannot expect to become Lord in a day Mr. Riddle," Drogbold had said. Irritated with the goblins Tom left Gringotts to go shop with Ella. Besides the little dark mark left on his day by the goblins – he was starting to think they were being painfully slow on purpose – everything else went just fine, they managed to buy their school supplies with no trouble. And although Tom's eyes had always wandered towards the turn into Knockturn Alley, he never thought of going there – not while he had Ella with him at least. That's why he was surprised when she suddenly grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged him off into Knockturn before he could say even a single word.

The narrow little street was filled with many dark-windowed shops. There was a pub at the very end, a worn out wooden sign hanging just above the door, _The Green Hag_; it creaked every time there was the lightest of breezes.

"Ella, stop." Tom hissed quietly. He pulled his sleeve free from her grasp and grabbed her arm, he pulled her closer, their faces a mere inch apart. Ella looked up at him, her green eyes reflecting the light coming out from one of the windows. He pulled her closer, "What do you think you're doing?" He asked her.

Ella squirmed, pulling back slightly. "It's alright Tom. I just want to show you something in one of the shops."

"You've been here before?" Tom glared, his voice dangerously low. Ella glared back, although the height difference between the two made her look almost comical from Tom's point of view.

"Yes, I have. It's no big deal," she said. "I just hiss at anyone who looks at me wrong and they run away. They're just a bunch of cowards in here."

Tom stared into her eyes, Ella stared back defiantly. He sighed, "Alright then, but you should have told me before. What is it that you wanted me to see?" Tom let her go.

She beamed and dragged him off again towards a shop located at 13B. The outside was nothing glamorous; the shop was painted a dark green colour, with two large windows and just above them, big golden letters that had already started to dull said: _Borgin and Burke, established 1863._ The inside was large and dimly-lit, glass cases filled with various little curiosities were all over the shop, evil-looking masks stared down from the walls, an assortment of human bones lay on the counter, spiked instruments hung from the ceiling.

Ella walked up right up to the counter, "Mr. Burke? I'm back!" She said rather cheerfully. Tom joined her by the counter just when an old, leathery looking man walked out from the back of the shop.

"You again," Mr. Burke huffed. "Told you to piss off. I ain't givin' it to you," he said.

Tom frowned, throwing Ella a questioning look.

Ella grinned like mad, "Oh I think you will reconsider it, Mr. Burke."

"Reconsider what?" Tom asked, suddenly. The other two looked back at him. Ella pointed at the glass counter; on a red cushion inside it lay a heavy golden locket engraved with a serpentine 'S', inlaid with glittering, green stones. Tom breathed in, unable to tear his eyes away from the locket; he was hypnotised by the sparkle of the green 'S', it looked almost like a minuscule snake.

"Well you see... ever since Mr. Burke got the locket, he's never been able to open it. So I bet him that if I could open it he would hand it over to me." Ella said. Burke scoffed.

"As if you could girly."

"Maybe I can't. But then you have nothing to lose." She said with a charming smile. Tom felt like he'd agree to anything if it was directed at him. He looked back at Burke, who seemed to be thinking about it.

"And what if you can't open it?" Asked Burke.

Ella pulled out a rather large leather pouch from her cloak pocket. "Then you get this. It's all galleons, don't worry."

Burke stayed silent. He looked from the locket that was laying peacefully inside the glass counter and the bag of gold.

"Fine." Burke said. He opened the back of the counter and pulled the locket out. Placing it on top of the counter he pointed at it. "Have a go at it then," he said dismissively, already eyeing the money pouch greedily.

Ella gently picked up the locket, placing it carefully on her open palm. She stared at it for a little while, the golden surface reflected her face. She smiled.

_§Open§_, she hissed. The golden lid of the locket swung open with a little click.

Caracatus Burke let out a startled gasp and fell backwards on his ass. He stared up at Ella with wild eyes. "You... A parseltongue?" He said, more to himself than anyone else. In all his 120 years of life he had never met a parseltongue, or at least heard one speak. The sound of it was... disturbing, to say the least.

Ella giggled, "I did tell you I could open it." She placed the locket around her neck and the money pouch on the counter.

"You can consider this a consolation. Goodbye Mr. Burke." And before the man could say anything else, Ella took Tom's hand and walked out of the shop with him.

Tom couldn't keep quiet any longer, "What was that all about?" He asked, squeezing her hand.

"Well... last year when you were at Gringotts and I wasn't allowed. I explored Knockturn Alley a bit after I got everything for school. And as I was walking past Borgin and Burke's I felt a tug... like something was calling out to me. I saw the locket sitting there just like it was today, and I just knew what it was. I felt the magic from the locket reach out to me. It's Slytherin's locket, so I though it should be back with us."

"I see," Tom said. He could see the locket hanging around Ella's neck, just beneath her cloak. He smiled. "You should have just told me, I would have helped you get it... Perhaps, we could have just sent a little snake to get it for us," his eyes gleamed dangerously, a devilish smirk played on his lips.

"So tell me dear sister, what else have you been hiding?" He asked as they walked to the Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

School had been started for a month when Tom caught himself staring at Ella's chest, or rather, the locket that was hidden away under her robes. He caught himself doing it several times before he tried to consciously make an effort to stop doing it so obviously, in the middle of the Great Hall.

But no one seemed to notice and if they had, no one said a thing. Tom couldn't help himself, the thought of finally having something that actually belonged to Salazar Slytherin made him incredibly giddy. He felt, perhaps a little closer to the possibility of being Lord Slytherin.

If only those bloody goblins hurried up. He was sick of waiting.

* * *

Tom was sitting in the Slytherin common room, looking through the windows into the lake. A couple of mermaids gently floated in the water right by the windows, they were waving at him through the unbreakable glass. When they saw Abraxas Malfoy walking up to their favourite human they quickly disappeared into the dark waters of the lake, Malfoy never saw a thing. Tom saw him come also, his form reflected onto the glass, the blonde was carrying something in his arms.

"Tom, I have something that I would like you do look at," Abraxas said quietly. His blue eyes rapidly darting around the room. Satisfied that they weren't being listened in on, he turned back to Tom.  
"It's a book I borrowed from my family library. Some...er... old magic. My father wants me to learn everything from it, and I figured you were the better duellist. Maybe you could have a read for me and give me your opinion?" Abraxas said cautiously. Tom eyed the book. He knew full well that Abraxas was incredibly lazy and that he only wanted Tom to give him a general summary so that he could get away with doing nothing while he flirted with Astrid MacMillan.

He wanted to tell Abraxas no, but the very though of reading about any old magic was so tantilising for Tom.

"Very well then," Tom conceded. Abraxas handed the book over to him – with a rather smug expression, Tom thought – and left him to his own devices.

He could tell the book was old, it was written by a Salmoneus Malfoy, titled _Olde Magicks. _He gently opened the book and started to read. Many of the pages described the theories behind spells, few had some very interesting spells which Tom realised might not be quite legal, most were possibly deadly. Entranced he flipped through the pages, reading with vigour.

Tom used one of the unused classrooms he'd found last year while wandering around the castle. He knew that no one even walked into this part of the castle, students and teachers alike, so he was safe to do as he pleased. Once he started learning the spells from Abraxas' book, Tom realised something very exciting - dark magic was incredibly easy for him to use. And when Abraxas joined him in the empty classroom he confirmed much of the same, Tom was unusually gifted in the dark arts – even more so than with everything else he seemed to be able to do. And when Malfoy asked Tom if he could learn the spells from any books like he had given him and then teach the spells to him, Tom agreed. He saw merit in Abraxas' proposal, knowing the younger boy would owe him something in the end.

Tom's little _tutoring _sessions with the Malfoy heir turned out better than he expected. At first, it was Rosier and his cousin that joined in, then – Avery, Lestrange and Nott. And after that, new _students_ just started pouring in. So Tom started a little study group. He'd read and learn the spells first and then teach the others. The others had agreed to swallow their pride, although they would never tell anyone they were learning from another _student._

But as time went by, they started to adore Tom, he made their lives much easier. The respect for Tom grew in Slytherin house, which suited him just fine. Although it didn't stop there, with the help of Ella he started tutoring younger students in all houses, helping them with their regular school subjects. Eventually, even the older students started treating him with some respect.

It was one evening when Tom felt a sense of Deja Vu; he was sitting by the lake windows in the common room when Walburga Black walked up to him, just like in first year. She quietly sat down on the armchair next to his.

"I may have been _somewhat_ wrong about you Riddle. No one with such talents for the art of _magicks_ could be a filthy little mudblood." She whispered. Tom had to fight back a smirk, _was the great and wicked Walburga Black apologising? _He was highly amused.

"And you helped out my little brother and cousin, so..." she made a face, "thanks..." Tom could have laughed right there. He could see that it was probably one of the hardest things she had to do. Her expression said it all.

"My cousin Orion will be Lord Black when he finishes school, it's nice to know that he will be a competent Lord." Walburga said. She sighed, "I wouldn't want to marry someone who can't even cast such spells properly."

Tom watched her walk away. His face was curiously pensive. He wished he could talk to Salazar again, he wanted to ask so many things. But perhaps the ancient wizard wanted to wait for Tom to become Lord first; he was certain Salazar must have heard the other students in the common room mention his more than questionable blood status.

He sighed, _bloody goblins._

* * *

Tom was angry; angrier than he'd ever been.

Druella was chatting away about nonsensical things like she usually did, until something caught his ear – _Ella joined the Ravenclaw duelling team. _

It seemed that _someone_ forgot to mention the little piece of information. He stormed out of the common room and headed straight to the library, where Tom knew she would most likely be. And he was right, she was sitting at her usual table surrounded by mountains of books. Without a word he grabbed arm tightly and pulled her up on her feet.

"Tom? What are you doing?" She asked, scandalized. Tom glared down at her and pulled her out of the library, walking her all the way to a deserted hallway.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" He suddenly burst out. Ella backed up, started by his sudden outburst.

"What the hell is wrong with me!? I'd say that about you! You just storm in and drag me out for no reason! **And** you have the gall to scream at me for that! Have you gone mental!?" She had her hands on her hips, her green eyes blazed with fire.

"You joined the duelling club!" He snarled.

"So!?"

"So you didn't tell me about it!"

Ella scoffed, "I only joined it today! I was going to tell you during dinner." She lowered her voice, "Is that why you're mad at me? That I didn't tell you? I was going to Tom. It's not my fault you spend all your time in your common room... you know I can't get in."

He snarled, "That's not why I'm angry. Why would you join such a thing? You'll get hurt!"

She recoiled, wide-eyed, "So you think I'm so weak that I can't even defend myself in a controlled duel!?" She yelled. Tom rolled his eyes.

"I just don't want you to get hurt," he stated. Tom reached out to pull her into a hug, but she pulled back.

"But you don't deny it. You think I'm a weak little girl that constantly needs protection." Ella huffed. "I can't believe you! I'm leaving! I don't want to talk to you anymore!" She turned around and ran off, leaving Tom to stand there looking confused.

He agreed that he shouldn't have shouted at her, but he didn't quite understand why she overreacted like that. But from that day his mood only worsened. Ella refused to talk to him, even in the only two classes that they shared together she ignored his presence – even though he was sitting right next to her. He tried to talk to her many times, but it was like she turned him out completely.

He started taking walks to calm himself down, that's when he accidentally found one of the castles secrets – a room that could turn into anything you wanted. He was pacing in the seventh floor when out of nowhere a door appeared, he cautiously walked in, only to see an enormous room filled with so many things, you couldn't see where it ended.

Tom went there every day for a week, exploring every crevice he could get to. He found many old books, some of them on dark magic, others – just old school books and even a few diaries.

* * *

He was sitting in the library, reading one of the books he'd found when someone tapped him on the shoulder. Tom looked up to see Ella's face smiling shyly down at him.

"Hi," she whispered.

"What did I do now?" He muttered, annoyed. Ella's cheeks reddened.

"Nothing... I just wanted to apologise for overreacting and then ignoring you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that-"

"Then why did you?" He asked, narrowed-eyed. Her face became ever redder.

"Erm... well. It was a lady thing...hormones...and stuff," she muttered looking down at her shoes. Tom started laughing quietly; Ella looked up at him in surprise.

"For a Ravenclaw you sure do suck at explaining yourself." He said with a grin. Ella scoffed, shook her head the smiled.

"Are we alright then? Because I have some brilliantly amazing news that you will never believe." Said Ella with the biggest smile Tom had ever seen. He could swear she was nearly jumping out of her shoes.

"Yeah, we are -"

Without warning Ella jumped into Tom's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, "We can go to Hogsmeade!" She whispered excitedly into his ear. Her face was just inches away, "I owled Mrs. Cole and asked very nicely if she would sign the permission slip for Hogsmeade. And she did, for the both of us!" Her excitement was contagious; although her squirming in his lap was making him feel a bit _uncomfortable. _He tried to shift in his seat so she wouldn't notice anything.

"That's great. We can go to Hogsmeade together for our first time." He said with a smile.

Ella jumped up from his lap. "Great! It's a date then," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "Got to get back to homework, but I'll see you soon."

As Ella left the library she missed the odd expression on Tom's face. _A date?_

* * *

A Hogsmeade weekend came in two weeks. Tom was standing outside the Great Hall, he watched many couples walk by on their way to the wizarding town. He was beginning to think Ella would be late when he saw her. Dressed in a knee-length sky-blue dressed what was decorated with tiny sparrows all over it; a few top buttons seemed to be missing, revealing a rather full looking cleavage. As Tom wondered how he missed the fact that his sister was starting to look like a woman, she bounced down the stairs happily. Her long black hair was tied back in a high pony-tail, revealing her slender neck.

"Ready to go?" He asked, holding out his arm for her. She wrapped her arm around his forearm and they headed off to Hogsmeade. They talked along the way, both wondering what the little town would be like. But Tom's eyes kept discretely drifting towards the two missing buttons. He only hoped Ella hadn't noticed his wondering eyes; he couldn't help himself, the subtle jiggling was hypnotising.

He knew it was wrong, she was his sister. But at that moment he couldn't bring himself to care.

Hogsmeade was filled with students, enjoying the sunny spring day. Most, if not all girls were wearing colourful spring dresses, so Ella fit right in.

They visited each and every shop and ended up in the Three Broomsticks. Tom found them a table in the back of the room and then went to order them drinks. When he came back with two Butterbeers he saw Eric Lestrange sitting next to Ella, he was blatantly chatting her up while not hiding the fast that his eyes were looking nowhere near her face. Ella looked annoyed and ready to hex him.

Tom cleared his throat, "Le... _Eric_, what are you doing here?" He asked, trying his best not to glare at the other boy.

Lestrange suddenly looked very pale, "I was just... passing by, I though I'd introduce myself to your lovely sister." He said. Tom didn't look impressed.

"I'll just go then, I can see William's calling me." He said quickly and scurried off. Tom knew very well that William Avery was doing no such thing, but he let it slide. He had better things to do than to discipline idiots. He placed the Butterbeers on the table and sat down.

The two Riddles talked for hours until it was time to go. They left, going back to Hogwarts with a promise to visit Hogsmeade again next year.

Summer rolled around pretty quickly after that, or so it felt. They were sad to leave the train, going back to Wool's was never a joy. But with only a few months until they could go back to their real home, they promised they could wait. It wasn't that long after all when they still had each other.

* * *

**Part 3 of Chapter 2 done, only one more to go before we can see everything, even Tom from Ella's perspective. **

**What do you think?**

**And also, thank you everyone for being so awesome! You're as awesome as Neville ripping the burning Sorting Hat of his head and then chopping Nagini's head off with a mother-effin sword. That's how how awesome you are. **

**Over a thousand views so far, which makes me feel great by itself. But then you guys go and review and follow the story. **

**You bring me joy, haha. I've been walking around grinning like a loon. I think some people in the house are starting to think I've got a bit nuts. **

**But yes... Now onto writing some more.**

**Cherrio, **

**Lee.**


	7. Chapter 2 - Part 4

**From now on for the disclaimer please refer to the previous chapters.**

* * *

**PLEASE READ.**

**Even though this story is now marked as mature I would still like to warn you that this chapter has a mention of rape. Please be warned, it will be marked in italics and bold so you will be able to ignore the bit if you don't want to read it. It is nothing explicitly graphic, but better safe than sorry. **

**Should I issue similar warnings in the future? Not necessarily for rape. (Mind you, murder is to be expected at some point. This is Lord Voldemort we're talking about after all).**

* * *

Tom committed his first murder on July 5th 1941, although technically he was nowhere near the guy. A new occupant by the name of Gordon Doyle arrived to Wool's earlier that same year, he was a stocky sort of bloke with dirty blonde hair, honey brown eyes and a perpetual smirk on his face. He was an arrogant sort, although only sixteen he thought he owned the world.

It began that afternoon. Everyone had just finished lunch, Tom was still having his tea and Gordon was sitting on the other side of the dinning table. He kept staring at Tom with an obnoxiously smug smirk. At first Tom tried to ignore the guy, but he could just feel Gordon's insistent stare. Tom turned to glare, he wanted to know why the guy wouldn't leave him alone – he'd been staring at Tom like that all day. Their eyes connected and out of nowhere Tom could see into Gordon's mind. What he saw horrified him.

**_Countless images of naked girls, battered and bloody flashed through his mind._**

**_And then, he saw Ella naked on the wooden floor, her long slender legs were scratched and bloody. Her long hair was a matted mess, green unseeing eyes stared up at the ceiling. She was beaten and bruised everywhere, only her face left unharmed, although streaked with tears. _**

Tom recoiled; Gordon blinked, looking confused. Tom got up and quickly ran up the stairs, he burst in to the room he and Ella shared. And there she was, sitting on her bed. She was reading one of her Arithmancy books. She looked up, "You alright?"

Tom sighed and nodded. He was relieved Doyle hadn't actually done anything to his beloved sister. But now he knew what the filthy muggle scum was planning to do. Ella was already back to reading, he quietly shut the door and went outside into the back garden. Tom knew of an adder nest nearby, it wasn't hard for him to find it. He t

* * *

old the snakes what to do – bite him, make sure he's dead.

Later that day Gordon Doyle was sneaking out for a drink at the pub when he was attacked by snakes. They were fast and bit him furiously. He was dead before anyone noticed him missing. He was found the next day with twenty five adder bites.

* * *

Tom was finishing up his last bit of summer homework when he felt a sudden weight on the bed. He looked up from his scroll at Ella, she was sitting on the edge of his bed wearing a worried expression.

"Tom... I think we need to talk." She said, her voice sounded off. He put his things to the side.

"Sure... Are you ok? Has anything happened?" He asked worriedly. Ella took a deep breath, she seemed shaky.

"I just heard the nurse... she's been talking to Mrs. Cole, said it was mighty odd the way Doyle died. Twenty five snake bites is highly unusual." She looked at her hands. "Tom... I... Did you send snakes to kill him?"

Tom stopped breathing; he didn't expect her to notice anything, she always spent her days reading in their room.

Ella frowned, "Why?"

Tom hesitated, he didn't want her to know what he saw. But she needed to know, so he told her. He told her what he saw in Doyle's mind, how he could feel his intent to go through with it. He couldn't let him even try it.

The blood had drained from Ella's face, "It was for the best." She said quietly. No words were spoken, but they knew it was agreed from then on – no one else was to know.

* * *

Fourth year started like any other, with a grand feast. And it felt like it would be just one of those years where nothing really exciting happened, and that was true for the first few months of school. Perhaps for others it continued just like normal, but Tom finally received some long awaited news.

One Saturday morning Tom was having a walk around the grounds to clear his head when a large regal looking owl swooped in, it dropped a letter in his hands and was gone again before he even noticed.

He flipped the letter over, his heard pounding. The Gringotts crest adorned the seal. He ripped the envelope, eager to finally get some news. And there it was, in the loopy handwriting of his account manager Drogbold.

_Dear Mr. Riddle,_

_I am pleased to inform you that we have finished the backed up paperwork, I will be able to tell you of our findings on our next meeting. As for the other issue, I have started the documents required for the inheritance test, our potion master will start his work in late December. I have taken the liberty of scheduling a time for you to come and take the test. _

_Please note that your inheritance test is scheduled for 10:55, June 17th 1942. I will remind you that here at Gringotts we value punctuality. _

_Senior Account Manager,_

_Drogbold. _

Tom grinned. Finally, some good news.

* * *

Tom was being watched. He knew it, he could feel that distinctive prickle on the back of his neck. And yet, he could never catch anyone in the act.

He was beginning to get paranoid. So he went to the only person he trusted.

"Someone's been watching me... probably following me too. I don't know why." Tom said, he was sitting under an old ash tree by the black lake. His eyes scanned the wide open space, looking for anyone who might be watching.

Ella laughed, "I'd say you're being paranoid, if I didn't know for a fact that there is someone watching you. Quite a few someone's actually."

Tom looked at her frowning, "And you didn't care to mention this to me... why?"

"Well, because I didn't think you would care that much if a bunch of girls were watching you. They keep hounding me about you all the time." She said. "_Oh Tom's so handsome... Oh can you introduce us? Does he have a girlfriend? What's his perfect girlfriend?_"Ella mimicked in a whiny high pitched voice.

"It's been driving me mad. So I told them all that you're not looking for a girlfriend until you find the perfect girl that I, as your sister, have to approve of." She huffed. "And now they started sucking up to me. It's appalling." Tom stared at her for a little bit, a smirk formed on his lips.

"So you've been _suffering_ in my stead... _Protecting_ me even." He said with mirth.

"You're my brother," Ella shrugged, although her cheeks looked suspiciously red. He tilted his head, secretly wondering, perhaps her feelings for him weren't quite sisterly. He _hoped._ Tom already admitted to himself that he loved his sister far more than he should, and perhaps not in the way he should. But he couldn't stop it, he didn't want to. He decided that it would just be Tom and Ella, for the rest of their lives. And even if she didn't see him that way, he would make sure she would; he'd go slow, remove all. No other man was good enough, no other man was worth the last daughter of the Slytherin bloodline.

Tom held Ella close, a content smile on his face. They watched the clouds rolling in the sky together.

* * *

Tom was feeling anxious. He was sitting on one of the many armchairs in the Gringotts lounge. He was waiting for Drogbold to call him in.

Tom's wristwatch ticked away quietly, but to him it seemed as loud as a gong. _Tick, tock, _the clock turned 10:55. And like clockwork, a young goblin came up to him.

"Mr. Riddle, if you would follow me."

Tom followed the goblin through unfamiliar hallways, going down into a round marble chamber. Drogbold was sitting behind a large black stone table, On his right sat a goblin dressed in all black, he had a wooden box in front of him. On Drogbold's left sat the young goblin that had led Tom there, he was holding a quill and a long empty scroll.

"Welcome Mr. Riddle. If you would sit down, we will begin."Said Drogbold, gesturing to the wooden chair in front of Tom. He sat down looking straight at his accounts manager.

"Potions master Werglock is here to administer the potion to you and make sure that in case something happens he would be able to stop it. My assistant Barduk is here to take notes. Do you wish to know anything before we begin?"

"What happens if I fail the test?" Tom asked.

"You will remain the heir of Slytherin until you produce a son, in which case the son would become heir. And depending on his suitability he could become Lord Slytherin. Is that all?"

Tom nodded, he waited so long for this, he just wanted to get it over with. Although he would prefer to become Lord.

The Potions Master got up and opened the wooden box. Inside were seven little bottles of different coloured potions, all held together in a wooden stand, a stone bowl and a long crystal mixing spoon. He slowly took everything out of the box, placing it on the table next to Tom. He carefully took one potion at a time, pouring them gently into the bowl. He mixed the concoction with the crystal spoon and then placed it right in front of Tom.

"Drink this," Werglock instructed, "not too fast or you'll get sick."

Tom drank without argument. When he finished he placed the stone bowl back on the table. He was confused. _Wasn't something supposed to happen?_ He wondered. And then it hit him, a sharp pain in his stomach, like someone stabbed him with a burning blade. The pain spread out to his limbs, even his fingernails felt like they were on fire. He could feel his brain pulsing. Tom tried to scream but he realised he couldn't move a single muscle in his body.

The pain was getting worse. Tom couldn't think anymore, it hurt too much. He started seeing spots and soon after everything went black.

_Tom! _

_Tom! Wake up!_

He groaned. Tom knew that voice. But he was so comfortable. He slowly opened his eyes to meet very familiar green ones. Ella was looking down at him worriedly, she was sitting next to his lying form, holding his hand.

"You're awake," she said with a smile.

"Welcome back Lord Slytherin," said Drogbold. He was sitting on a chair a few steps away. Tom looked up, _had it worked then?_

"I was deemed worthy?" He asked sitting up.

Drogbold nodded, "Oh yes, you are now officially Lord Slytherin. We can of course discuss this at a later date, when you have regained your strength. My assistant got you and Lady Ella a room in the Leaky Cauldron. Room 11, I believe it's your preferred room to stay in?" Ella nodded. But Tom felt like he was missing something. Lady Ella?

They were allowed to use the Gringotts floo to get to the Leaky, and only when they were up in room 11 did Ella start explaining everything.

"When you passed out they called me in, I'm your only living relative. They told me that the potion they gave you wouldn't have done anything if you weren't suitable. But your reaction to the mix was so strong that they had no doubts. You were named Lord by magic, and that made it official. And I'll be Lady Slytherin until you find yourself a nice wife. Drogbold said he'll explain more in a few days, when you've gotten better. He said there's so much more to discuss. And it looks like I might be allowed in this time."

Ella's explanation left Tom's mind whirling. But he was so tired that he didn't even notice when he just fell asleep.

* * *

**Chapter 2 done. So Tom Riddle is now Lord Slytherin. Does that change anything for the future? Perhaps. **

**It's a short chapter, but nothing major happens fourth year. What did you think?**

**I don't know about other timelines, but as I am typing this now it's Harry Potters 33 birthday. That's quite something I think.**

**Anyway, next chapter will be out in the next few days. Depending on how much real life things I have to do. Although reviews give me a boost (no pressure though). **

**As always, thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed and favourited. You are all amazing people and I always hope that you enjoy the direction this story is going towards. **

**Cheers, **

**Lee.**


	8. Chapter 3 - The Riddle of Ravenclaw

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Only Ella Riddle. **

* * *

**Chapter 3 – The Riddle of Ravenclaw House**

**Year 1**

Even at a very young age Ella Riddle was aware of her own intelligence, coupled with her boundless curiosity it drove her to find out everything she could. So when you knew what each of the Hogwarts houses were looking for in potential students, it wouldn't surprise you that she was sorted into Ravenclaw.

And it was no surprise for Ella when the hat called out Ravenclaw for all the Great Hall to hear. She felt her heart leap with joy as she walked to the blue and bronze table, her new housemates were clapping for her as she sat down with them. But not everyone was happy with her placement; Ella caught the annoyed look in Tom's eyes just before the hat was placed on his head.

She bit her lip nervously. Tom wanted her to go to Slytherin with him, he thought it was the house that they could both do well in. But Ella went and ruined that.

The hat stayed on Tom's head for a while, she imagined he was trying to argue with the sorting, demanding to be sorted into Ravenclaw with Ella. But it shouted out Slytherin and Ella knew he was angry; she could tell, even with Tom's calm exterior.

When Tom joined the Slytherin table it finally hit her: they wouldn't be together anymore. Her only hope was that they at least had some classes together.

As the feast progressed Ella found herself talking to Alphard Black. They talked about everything. He told her about what his older family members said about the their future classes.

"So Ravenclaw has classes only with Hufflepuff?" She asked.

Alphard gave a nod, "Usually, at least until third year. We'll get to pick electives. Some classes don't get picked by that many students, so you get to have classes with students from any house."

"Really?"

Alphard shrugged, "That's what my sister told me at least."

Ella's eyebrows rose, "You have a sister?"

"Yes, Walburga. She's a third year in Slytherin. Also got a little brother, he won't be in Hogwarts for a while," he glanced at the Slytherin table. "She's probably dying to write to father and tell him how disappointing I am. Getting myself sorted into Ravenclaw."

"What's so bad about Ravenclaw?" Ella asked.

"Nothing at all. It's just not _Slytherin_. Although it could be worse, at least I'm not in Gryffindor. She would make it her mission to hunt me down then." He sighed.

Ella remained silent, digesting the new information. She had heard about the general dislike between Slytherin and Gryffindor. She was relieved to be in a neutral zone.

The two Ravenclaws talked all the way through dinner. Alphard told Ella some funny stories from his childhood – most of them were about pranking one of his many relatives in some way or another. More than once he made Ella laugh. Surprisingly, she didn't choke on her dinner even once.

After dinner she felt guilty, during her conversation with Alphard she hadn't thought of how Tom was at all.

The Ravenclaw common room was located in one of the castle's towers, it was wide and circular. They had to climb a tight spiral staircase to get there. The common room itself had arched graceful windows and the walls were hung with blue and bronze silks. The domed ceiling was painted with stars, which were echoed in the midnight blue carpet. Tables, chairs and bookcases covered the expanse floor, and a white marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw sat next to the door that lead to the dormitories above.

Unlike any other common rooms in the school, a logical riddle given by a bronze eagle-shaped knocked must be answered to enter. Ella had chuckled quietly when she realised that Tom could easily sneak into the common room. He was just as intelligent as her, although his focus was far more towards the practical application of the knowledge gained.

* * *

Alphard Black became a constant in Ella's life. No matter what happened, he was always there. Besides him, Lucia Moon was another constant. The three Ravenclaws became great friends, eating together, sitting in all their classes together and doing homework together.

It was early November when Alphard once again expressed his dislike for his sister.

"Walburga is crazy," he said. He sat down next to Ella in the common room. She looked up from her copy of the _Practical Application of Transfiguration in Duelling._

"Oh? What did your sister dearest do now?"

"She suddenly thinks she can boss me around," he scowled. "Walburga told me it's in my best interest to stop being friends with unsuitable characters."

Ella frowned, "Unsuitable characters? Does she think, that we're running some sort of gang here?"

Alphard laughed darkly, "If only. I suspect she would actually approve of that. No, she doesn't approve of your blood status."

Ella stared at him blankly, "And she honestly expects you to listen to her?"

He snorted, "Yeah, she does. But what she constantly forgets is that I don't have to listen to her. Walburga likes to think she's in charge." He sighed, "The only way she'll ever be in charge of anything is if our parents marry her of to someone."

Ella nodded and went back to reading her book. But her mind was buzzing. _Was Walburga doing something like this to Tom?_ She would have to find out.

While the Slytherin's prided themselves on being cunning and sly it wasn't quite that hard to find out what you needed from them. With their ongoing feud with the Gryffindor's they completely forgot to be careful around Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. All Ella had to do is wait patiently. She had an open book in front of her, her green eyes were scanning the pages, but she already knew every single word. Her wait wasn't long, a couple of Slytherin's revealed everything to her without even knowing it.

Walburga Black had called Tom out for his blood status, she dared call him _mudblood. _Tom was effectively censured by his house; he was being ignored by everyone.

Ella growled; Walburga Black would have hell to pay.

One late November morning Walburga found herself having a unusual amount of strange accidents. At first she thought it was Riddle, but he was never around, nor could be actually enter the girls dormitories. In fact, Walburga doubted he would even try, he didn't seem too bothered by being ignored.

She suspected her younger brother Alphard. But then, all her luscious black hair fell out, she started getting boils in the most unusual places, anything she ate just made her gain more and more weight, her previously ample breasts suddenly shrunk. And no matter what Walburga tried, her hair wouldn't grow back. She was stuck looking like a younger version of Horace Slughorn, the Head of Slytherin (who actually thought it was a bad joke and gave her a month of detention). So now Walburga was forced to wear a wig. She was having a horrible time, especially since no one could find the culprit.

* * *

The rest of the year flew by quickly. Walburga Black was still having the oddest accidents; _someone_ started a rumour that she was cursed with bad luck and only the Slytherin's ever talked to her anymore.

After Tom told Ella about his chat with Salazar Slytherin's portrait, Ella started researching everything about him. Which wasn't much, either the information was never written down or it had been misplaced over the thousand years.

On the train ride home Tom introduced her to Alaric and Druella Rosier. Ella was delighted, Tom finally had someone in his own house.

She and Druella hit it off immediately, they talked through the whole train ride, promising to write each other over the summer.

* * *

**Year 2**

The summer before second year started Tom and Ella went to visit Gringotts. However, Ella was not allowed in to the meeting with the Slytherin account manager. While she told Tom it was fine, she was more than a little annoyed at the goblin. Ella was not at all pleased to be refered to as _the female._

She controlled her anger, instead focusing on doing the school shopping. One charming little smile here and there helped her knock off a few sickles here and there. And strictly speaking, she didn't really steal that overflowing leather pouch; it was left out on an empty table in the Leaky Cauldron. So what if no one noticed her sneak the pouch away under her dress.

She used the gold to buy a couple of extra things, and as she was walking out of the Apothecary something else caught her eye. _Knockturn Alley._

Ella got a room in the Leaky and left everything there before wondering out again, right into Knockturn. The people there weren't the classiest of sorts. She wondered down the alley, looking about at the different shops. Every time someone tried to approach her, Ella would hiss at them viciously, her green eyes glinting like the killing curse. They stayed away.

* * *

Even though Ella enjoyed sharing a bed with Tom in the Leaky (they were given separate beds in the orphanage when they were ten), the time for Hogwarts rolled around once again. And as much as she loved her big, soft, blue and bronze bed, she missed Tom with her. Ella was so used to listening to his heartbeat as she fell asleep, the sound always soothed her ever-busy mind.

She decided to try and spend more time with Tom. Which wasn't hard. Druella Rosier kept inviting Ella to hang out together, and that meant being around Druella's cousin Alaric and of course Tom.

Second year in a row, Ella was becoming the top female student of her year. She had already picked her electives for next year, happy at the possibility of finally having some classes with her beloved brother.

When Christmas holidays rolled around, Ella was relieved. The castle was left almost empty, and even though Tom hadn't noticed, girls were starting to look at him as a possible future boyfriend. She knew he wasn't interested in any girls, not many boys their age were. But she was worried; if Tom got a girlfriend, he wouldn't spend as much time with her. Eventually, the girlfriend would take up all his free time and they would barely ever see each other. Her mind went into overdrive thinking of all the horrible outcomes.

If the girlfriend became a wife and they had children, then Tom wouldn't have time for Ella at all. They would end up separated for good.

She couldn't let that happen, no. If Tom was to ever have a girlfriend Ella would have to approve of her first, and if some bitch tried to take her brother away, then she'd develop a sudden case of bad luck.

* * *

Alphard was one of the few males Ella's age that realised girls weren't _icky. _When he started asking her out however, Ella had to pretend she didn't know what he was talking about. In the end, Alphard asked Phoebe Crouch out, who was a nice enough girl.

While Alphard was busy with Phoebe, Ella was busy with her nose buried deep in books. With her suddenly starting to _develop, _Ella was lost. She knew some guys started noticing her growing chest, so she purposefully retreated into books. Which also helped her watch over Tom. He was getting some friends in his house, but the rest of them still chose to ignore him. Ella was worried she wasn't doing enough, but Walburga Black wasn't causing any more trouble and Ella didn't know what else to do.

So she tried to stop worrying.

They were back at Wool's soon enough. Ella didn't dare tell Tom, but she was happy to be back. It meant she could have her brother all to herself, she knew none of the muggle girls would dare look at Tom. They were afraid of him, and no matter how handsome Tom was becoming, they were afraid of Ella's wrath.

* * *

**Year 3**

Ella was starting to feel rather short lately. It seemed that Tom had shot up so quickly, she never even noticed. Even though she joked about it, this new height difference made her feel _uncomfortable._

She was already painfully aware of the recent changes in her own body. But the hormones were driving her up the wall. When out of nowhere Tom got his new voice, it made her want to howl. Now whenever he said her name in that smooth baritone it sent wild chills down her body.

Oh, but Ella knew it was wrong. She blamed it on the constant and extremely close proximity, as well as the fact that Tom was the only attractive male in the orphanage. There was really nothing else to look at.

And really, what harm was there in looking?

* * *

They were back in Hogwarts for a while when Ella heard the good news. Walburga Black admitted to being wrong about Tom. And while her stroke of bad luck had ended last year, she was known to _secretly_ carry all sorts of different good luck charms.

Ella was looking for any news on the notice board when she saw the notice for the Duelling Club. Curious, she went to check it out. And after a little duel to see if she would qualify, she was allowed in to the club.

She tried to find Tom to tell him the news, but he was nowhere to be seen. Ella was in the library reading when Tom stormed in with a silent furry and dragged her out to a deserted hallway.

"Tom? What are you doing?" She asked, his grip on her arm was too tight. He let her go.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" He suddenly yelled. Ella backed up, started by his sudden outburst. He sounded positively furious.

"What the hell is wrong with me!? I'd say that about you! You just storm in and drag me out for no reason! **And** you have the gall to scream at me for that! Have you gone mental!?" She had her hands on her hips, her green eyes blazed with fire. Her temper rising; today was not the best of days in the month to pick a fight with her.

"You joined the duelling club!" He snarled.

"So!?"

"So you didn't tell me about it!"

Ella scoffed, "I only joined it today! I was going to tell you during dinner." She lowered her voice, "Is that why you're mad at me? That I didn't tell you? I was going to Tom. It's not my fault you spend all your time in your common room... you know I can't get in."

He snarled, "That's not why I'm angry. Why would you join such a thing? You'll get hurt!"

She recoiled, his words felt like a slap to her, "So you think I'm so weak that I can't even defend myself in a controlled duel!?" She yelled. Tom rolled his eyes.

"I just don't want you to get hurt," he stated. Tom reached out to pull her into a hug, but Ella pulled back. She wanted to slap him hard.

"But you don't deny it. You think I'm a weak little girl that constantly needs protection." Ella huffed. Of course he would think that. He never noticed that she was often the one to protect him.

"I can't believe you! I'm leaving! I don't want to talk to you anymore!" She turned around and ran off without a single glance back. But once she was back in the Ravenclaw tower, all her anger had disappeared. Ella felt so guilty. She overreacted, like a silly little child. _Stupid hormones._

But she didn't apologise, she refused to. She had to do something first.

Ella wrote a letter to Mrs. Cole, asking her to sign the permission slips for Hogsmeade, adding a weak compulsion charm as a safety precaution. She wanted to be absolutely sure that she would get them back signed.

A week later the brown barn owl landed on her head. It dropped the letter on her book and quickly flew off before it could be shooed away. Ella opened the white envelope – Mrs. Cole had even added muggle stamps on it – inside was the familiar scrawl of Wool's matron.

_Dear Ella,_

_I'm pleased to hear you are doing well in school. I have put the signed permission slips inside, have fun at the village. _

_Promise me to make sure your brother doesn't cause trouble. _

_Sincerely, _

_Agatha Cole. _

Ella shook the envelope and two parchment slips fell out. Ella grabbed them and went looking for Tom immediately.

She found him alone, reading. Gently tapping him on the shoulder, she smiled shyly down at him.

"Hi," she whispered.

"What did I do now?" He muttered, annoyed. Ella's cheeks grew hot.

"Nothing... I just wanted to apologise for overreacting and then ignoring you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that-"

"Then why did you?" He asked, narrowed-eyed. Her face became even hotter, she could swear someone was casting a warming charm on her.

"Erm... well. It was a lady thing...hormones...and stuff," she muttered looking down at her shoes. She was embarrased. What would she say, _oh sorry Tom. I was being slightly irrational because I've been bleeding every freaking month?_ No, she couldn't ever bring herself to say that out loud.

Tom started laughing quietly; Ella looked up at him in surprise.

"For a Ravenclaw you sure do suck at explaining yourself." He said with a grin. Ella scoffed, shook her head the smiled.

"Are we alright then? Because I have some brilliantly amazing news that you will never believe." She said. Her smile was threatening to split her face in half. Ella was nearly jumping out of her shoes with happiness.

"Yeah, we are -"

Without warning Ella jumped into Tom's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, "We can go to Hogsmeade!" She whispered excitedly into his ear. Her face was just inches away, "I owled Mrs. Cole and asked very nicely if she would sign the permission slip for Hogsmeade. And she did, for the both of us!" In her over-excited state she didn't realise just how much she was squirming, until something hard poked her. Tom shifted in his seat, although that only made it more obvious. Ella pretended not to notice, she was embarassed enough, there was no need for her brother to know how indecent his twin sister was. She was sure Tom would be horrified by her attraction to him, as would anyone else be.

"That's great. We can go to Hogsmeade together for our first time." He said with a smile.

Ella jumped up from his lap. "Great! It's a date then," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "Got to get back to homework, but I'll see you soon."

She walked out of the library red-faced, hoping Tom would never know. Ella never wanted to see him look at her with disgust, it would break her heart.

* * *

A Hogsmeade came in two weeks. Ella picked a blue dress with a couple of missing buttons, guiltily hoping to attract some attention. But as the day went, she never saw Tom take a peek even once.

She was didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved. She chose to be both.

In the end, Ella did get _some_ attention. Albeit it was unwanted. Eric Lestrange was was known to be lecherous, so much so that it was rumoured he had a little black book and the intention of filling it out with every Hogwarts girl possible. And Ella had no wish to have her name in there.

Summer holidays rolled around pretty quickly after that. They were sad to leave the train, going back to Wool's was never a joy. But with only a few months until they could go back to their real home, they promised they could wait. It wasn't that long after all when they still had each other.

* * *

**Year 4**

Ella genuinely though that summer before fourth year would be uneventful. Even with the new addition in the orphanage. And although Gordon Doyle went out of his way to flirt with Ella, she went out of her way to avoid him.

Doyle gave her the creeps.

And perhaps that was why Ella wasn't so surprised when she found out he was dead. What did surprise her was the fact that he died from twenty five snake bites.

When Tom finally told her everything, Ella was deeply disturbed. However, not because of the death of a scumbag, or the fact that her own brother orchestrated the kill. No, it was the fact that Tom saved her – and possibly many girls to come – from future rape, and that only made her feelings for him grow. She felt bag enough, her secret was already eating her from the inside. Wanting to shag your own brother was more than frowned upon. And Tom already had some secret crush he wouldn't tell her about, Ella was sure of it.

* * *

The beginning of fourth year brought the Riddles good news. The Slytherin account manager, Drogbold, had finally owled Tom to let him know that the inheritance test would finally take place in June.

* * *

Ella was annoyed.

For a while now, a gaggle of silly giggly girls were stalking Tom. And if that wasn't bad enough, they dared to gang up on her while she was on her way to the library.

"Oh Ella your brother is so handsome!" Said Lettie Davis, a Hufflepuff in the same year. The other girls agreed enthusiastically.

"Is he single?" Asked one.

"What's his perfect girlfriend?"

"Do you think you could set me up with him?" Said another.

The questions just pilled up. Some more indecent than the others. One even asked, "Does he look good naked?"

Ella suddenly felt murderous. She put on a charming, yet apologetic smile, "I'm so sorry girls. My dear brother is taken. He's got a girl back home, a real beauty that one," she said with a little laugh, "I'm actually quite jealous. I _wish _I was as pretty as her."

The gaggle of girls looked disappointed. "Are they exclusive then?" "Would he be interested in something on the side?"

Ella fought hard to control her facial expression, "My brother feels quite strongly about her, he's planning to propose after school and all. And he's against cheating. Sorry girls." She tried to look sorry, even though she wanted to throttle them all.

"But don't tell him I told you about her, alright? He doesn't want anyone to know. He'd be embarrassed if people knew he was such a softie about her. However, if they break up you all will be the first to know. Alright?"

They all smiled at Ella, looking satisfied. Ella excused herself and walked to her original destination. Now unseen by anyone, she had a vicious snarl on her pretty face.

"_Annoying little cunts..." _she muttered quietly.

* * *

Ella was pacing. She was worried. Tom had left for Gringotts _hours_ ago. Just how long was this inheritance test supposed to take?

Just as she was about to storm out to the bank, a large black owl swooped in through the window and knocked right into her. Both Ella and the owl fell to the floor, although the owl was faster in recovering. It flew up onto the table, it's large copper eyes glaring at Ella.

Ella glared back at the owl, "It's not my fault you're not watching where you're flying." She muttered to the owl, who looked affronted. It ruffled it's feathers and dropped a letter on the floor and swooped out.

Ella rolled her eyes, "What a drama queen..." She picked up the letter. The Gringotts crest was pressed into the seal. Hastily she tore it open and read through.

_...we require your presence immediately. This letter is a portkey that will transfer you to Gringotts at precisely 15:10..._

Ella didn't have time to react. The portkey activated, pulling her out of the room. She landed on the marble floor with a thud.

"Welcome to Gringotts Miss Riddle."

Ella groaned. She recognised that voice, Drogbold.

"If you would please get up off the floor Miss Riddle, we could then get to why you were summoned here." Drogbold said. Although his voice sounded suspiciously amused.

Ella pushed herself up, trying to maintain any dignity left.

"Follow me." The goblin said. Ella followed him into a small lounge. A tray with tea and an assortment of sandwiches was placed on the table. A young goblin served them both tea, which Ella accepted graciously. She sipped her tea, waiting for Drogbold to speak.

"I believe congratulations are in order. Your brother has passed the test, magic has accepted him as Lord Slytherin." He explained.

"And where is my brother?" She asked.

"Unfortunately, the inheritance test in incredibly painful, if it works. Lord Slytherin seems to have had an especially bad reaction. He has lost conciousness and is currently being tended to by our healers. "

All blood left Ella's face. She felt faint. "Where is he? Where is Tom?" She demanded, her voice reached an unusually high pitch.

"Please calm down, he is fine. Lord Slytherin merely needs to sleep it off. He will be awake in a few hours."

Ella still looked uneasy.

Drogbold sighed, "There is no danger to his lordship's life. But we do however have things to discuss."

She sipped her earl grey, willing her heart to calm down. "Yes, do go on," she said.

Drogbold gave a nod, "As your brother is now Lord, he is no longer considered underaged. He is, as of now, your legal guardian."

Ella's eyebrows twitched, "Oh?"

"Yes. He is responsible for your wellbeing, as well as picking you a suitable husband. And until his lordship finds himself a suitable wife, you are named Lady Slytherin. After marriage, the title would go to the wife of his lordship. You my lady, will take on any titles that your husband would have. And of course, you will have a generous dowry." Drogbold said. He went on to explain her duties and responsibilities as the lady of house Slytherin. The goblin gave her a portfolio of the Slytherin account and all their holdings, properties and such – to be handed to Tom after he wakes up.

After everything was efficiently explained, Drogbold led Ella to Tom's room, where she was finally allowed to wake Tom up.

"Tom!"She poked him.

"Tom! Wake up!" Poke, poke, poke.

Tom groaned. His eyes opened slowly.

"You're awake," she said with a smile.

"Welcome back Lord Slytherin," said Drogbold. He was sitting on a chair a few steps away. Tom looked up at the goblin.

"I was deemed worthy?" He asked sitting up.

Drogbold nodded, "Oh yes, you are now officially Lord Slytherin. We can of course discuss this at a later date, when you have regained your strength. My assistant got you and Lady Ella a room in the Leaky Cauldron. Room 11, I believe it's your preferred room to stay in?" Ella nodded.

They were allowed to use the Gringotts floo to get to the Leaky, and only when they were up in room 11 did Ella start explaining everything to Tom.

"When you passed out they called me in, I'm your only living relative. They told me that the potion they gave you wouldn't have done anything if you weren't suitable. But your reaction to the mix was so strong that they had no doubts. You were named Lord by magic, and that made it official. And I'll be Lady Slytherin until you find yourself a nice wife. Drogbold said he'll explain more in a few days, when you've gotten better. He said there's so much more to discuss. And it looks like I might be allowed in this time."

Ella smiled at Tom's sleeping form. She was pleased, with Tom was her official guardian they wouldn't need to go back to Wool's. She curled up next to him, pressing herself against his side. His arms automatically wrapped around her form.

Ella fell asleep listening to his heartbeat.

* * *

**Ah. I'm done.**

**So sorry it took a while. Life sort of got in the way. **

**So what do you think? Like it or no? What happens next?**

**What happens to the hobbits? Do the dwarves get their gold?.. Sorry, bad joke. **

**Once more, thank you all for reading. Reviews would be much appreciated, I just love hearing from everyone. And seeing how many of you can predict what happens... It scares me sometimes that some of you are legilimens. Are you?**

**I'll try to not take so long to update. **

**Cheers, **

**Lee.**


	9. Chapter 4 - The Riddles of Blackburn

**Chapter 4 – The Riddles of Blackburn**

In the early hours of June 18th thousands of mail owls swooped around the country, delivering the newest morning edition of the Daily Prophet. The first page headline flashed in bold letters across the paper.

Tom woke up with the sun to a very pleasant surprise. Ella was sleeping right next to him, her mouth was slightly open letting a thin line of drool escape. Tom could barely contain his laughter at the sight. Since she was still asleep Tom carefully rolled out of bed, he was wearing pyjama bottoms, although he couldn't recall putting them on, he simply assumed he was so tired when he got changed that he blanked out.

He sat down by the open window, enjoying the morning sun shining at his face. That's when he noticed an owl gliding down towards him. A large eagle-owl landed on the window sill, it flapped it's long, powerful wings and dropped a newspaper in Tom's lap. He grabbed give knuts from a pouch on the table and the owl held out its leg so Tom could put the money in the small leather pouch tied to it. Then it flew off through the open window.

Tom watched the owl fly away until it was a tiny blip in the sky. As he unrolled the newspaper the first page headline immediately caught his eye.

_DAILY PROPHET_

_18th June, 1942_

_AFTER A MILLENIUM SLYTHERIN LORDSHIP FINALLY CLAIMED_

_by Adrian Greenhall_

_For a long time it was believed that the title of Lord Slytherin was lost with the death of Salazar Slytherin, the first and last lord of his name. With some research I have found that Slytherin set a very specific criteria for the would be lord._

_And for nearly a thousand years there hasn't been a single wizard in Slytherin's bloodline to live up to his standards._

_Today, we have different news. As of June 17th 1942 a new Lord has been accepted. And with a bit of digging I have found out that the new Lord Slytherin is the last male of the long line. A surprise for me was, and I'm sure it will be for my readers as well, is that the Lord has a twin sister who is named the Lady Slytherin until the Lord chooses a suitable wife to carry on the line, at which point the title will fall to the wife. _

_While at this time I am not legally allowed to reveal the names of the new Lord and Lady Slytherin, I hope they will be making a public appearance soon. And for the first time in many years the wizarding world will get to meet the blood heirs of one of the famous Hogwarts founders. _

Tom dropped the prophet on the table. He wasn't expecting the news to break that fast, but a descendant of one of the Hogwarts founders was always news worthy. He sighed, at least they didn't reveal his or Ella's names, he wasn't ready for that sort of reveal, not yet. The first public appearance of Lord and Lady Slytherin had to be spectacular, they would wear new robes; Tom was glad they could finally be rid of the second-hand robes.

He glanced at Ella, she was still sleeping peacefully. A thick red leather folder was placed on the bedside table, Tom grabbed it and made himself comfortable. His previously ordered cup of tea, milk and two teaspoons of sugar, arrived. Tom leaned back in his chair and started sifting through the documents from the folder, occasionally he sipped his tea.

_SLYTHERIN FAMILY ACCOUNT OVERVIEW_

_ACCOUNT MANAGER: Ser Drogbold; Senior Accounts Manager. _

_HEAD OF FAMILY: Tom Marvolo Riddle_

_ STATUS: Emancipated; Lord Slytherin. _

_REMAINING FAMILY: Ella June Riddle_

_ STATUS: Lady Slytherin._

_ GUARDIAN: Tom Marvolo Riddle_

_VAULT CONTENT:_

_ MONEY: 650, 927, 460, 801 G; 20 S; 7 K; _

_ OTHER: Various Family Heirlooms (see page 13 for a detailed list)._

_PROPERTIES: _

_ ¼ Hogwarts Castle; Chamber of Secrets._

_ ¼ Forbidden Forest._

_ Hogarth Monastery._

_ Douglas Manor. _

_ Castle Breckenridge._

_For a detailed report on each property please look to pages 17 to 25._

Tom had to admit, even if it was just to himself, that if nothing else the goblins were extremely thorough. It took him a while to read through everything and when he finally finished he had to take a minute to breathe. Tom hoped that there would be some gold to the Slytherin title, but he was not at all expecting what he got.

* * *

The very same day another letter arrived, Ella had gotten to it first. She easily broke the seal, the letter was written in an elegant curled script.

"Tom, I think it's for you." Ella said handing him the letter. She leaned in to read it as well, her arms wrapped around his shoulder and her chin rested on his left shoulder.

_Dear Lord Slytherin,_

_I wish to congratulate you on becoming the only other wizard, besides Salazar Slytherin himself, to take the esteemed title of Lord Slytherin._

_As a former Slytherin student it brings me joy to know that the Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin can finally be brought back to greatness. _

_I hope that you and the Lady Slytherin have had no trouble settling in to your new positions. And while I hope you will consider attending the annual Black family dinner party held on the 21st of June. Quite a few Lords and Ladies attend every year and we would all very much like to meet you and your undoubtedly lovely sister. _

_Sincerely Yours,_

_Arcturus Black_

_Lord and Head of the Black Family_

The two Riddles locked eyes, identical grins adorned their faces.

"Well, we could never miss to meet our dear _friend _Walburga. Just imagine the look of surprise on her oh-so _lovely_ face." Ella said.

Tom laughed, _oh yes. _He was looking forward to this.

* * *

The Riddle twins were born in Wool's orphanage and up until just a few days ago they believed it would be their _supposed _home as long as they were underaged. Neither of the two had any idea that with Tom accepting the Slytherin lordship so many things would change. And now, not only were they obscenely rich, but they also had a way out of that dreadful place they were supposed to call home.

Since Tom was officially emancipated and the head of the family, he could leave the orphanage and take Ella with him into one of the houses that he now owned.

While Ella was out shopping for the dinner party, Tom found the perfect house for the two of them. It was one of the smaller buildings he owned – a manor in a small unplottable island a few miles up north from Scotland's coast. The only way to you could get there was by portkey.

With the help of their house elves it was quite easy to get all of their belongings from the orphanage without needing to go there. One portkey trip and they were in their new home. Tom was pleasantly surprised by the work the Whispy and Pippy had done, he was told the house was left empty for many years and had gathered quite a thick layer of dust. The two elves had been sent ahead to clean up the house and fill it up with some furniture.

* * *

It wasn't long before the 21st of June arrived. In the green sitting room of Blackburn manor Lord Arcturus Black was having drinks with his brother Pollux Black, Lords Rosier , Lestrange, Avery, Macmillan, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Parkinson, Malfoy and Flint. The thirteen lords were discussing the possibility of passing some new laws that could _help _other witches and wizards see the world from their point of view. A young elf popped in suddenly right next to Arcturus' armchair.

He looked down at his quivering servant, "Yes Kreacher? What is it?" Arcturus sneered. He did not like being interupted by elves.

"Master, Lord and Lady Slytherin bes here," said the little elf. "They bes in the entrance halls"

Arcturus's eyebrows rose, "Tell my wife to meet me in the hallway immediately." He put his crystall glass down on to the table and got up. "Excuse me gentlemen, I will go greet our newest guest. I will be back shortly." The other men noded and continued on with the conversation.

As soon as Tom and Ella walked out of the massive marble fireplace they were greeted by a young over-eager elf. He told them to wait a moment until he got his masters. The twins whispered quietly to each other, wondering what sort of man was Lord Black.

Tom was dressed in a three piece dark green robe, bought that very same morning by his sister, his dark hair was left untamed, although still perfect. Ella had gone the bold route, wearing a scarlet silk dress and bright red lipstick on her lips; the Slytherin locket hung around her neck, proudly displaying the family heirloom.

Lord and Lady Black took no time to walk out into the grandiose entrance hall to meet the two Riddles.

"Welcome to our home. I'm Melania Black, and this is my husband Arcturus." Melania said at once, holding her hand out for Tom who took it without hesitation and kissed it, his lips barely touched her skin.

"A pleasure, Lady Black. Tom Riddle," he said. "And my twin sister Ella." Ella bowed her head briefly.

Melania led Ella away to the blue sitting room to introduce her to the other Ladies, while Tom followed Arcturus into the green sitting room. He was introduced to all the men, who greeted him enthusiastically, Tom guessed it was more likely due to the firewishey they had consumed rather than his appearance. He had been given a seat and a drink.

"So Lord Slytherin, or may I call you Tom?" Ewan Rosier asked, after a nod from Tom he continued. "I am aware that you are school friends with my son Alaric. He has told me about all the good work you've been doing with the study club you're organising." Rosier grinned, holding up his nearly empty glass of firewhiskey. Albert Goyle chuckled.

"Yes, I heard you're quite talented in the dark arts," said Goyle.

"I guess it's not that surprising, if you take my bloodline into account," Tom said. He took a sip of firewhiskey out of his glass. All the other lords chuckled, a couple of _here here's_ resounded happily around the room. The now fourteen lords talked for what might have been hours, until dinner was finally served. They gathered together with the ladies in the dining room, wives sitting next to their husbands. Ella was introduced to the men, who were happy enough to know that although Lady Slytherin wasn't in her ancestors house, she was at least in Ravenclaw – some seemed to have assumed Gryffindor from her choice of dress colour.

When dinner ended the men and women were separated once more, back to their previous conversations. It was then that talks turned towards Ella.

"So Tom, have you anyone in mind for the future Lady Slytherin? Or perhaps even someone for your lovely sister?" Alexander Nott asked. He was gentry twirling his glass, the half melted ice swished around in the amber coloured liquid.

Tom stiffened, "I'm afraid that's a no on both. There was too little time to consider anything yet. I'm still busy sorting everything out. We were only recently able to finally move in to one of our properties. So picking a possible husband for Ella, or a wife for myself had not yet crossed my mind."

Magnus Macmillan laughed, "Well if you ever need a pick, I've got a large selection of daughters."

Caesar Malfoy snorted, nearly chocking on his drink."With fifteen daughters I'd say it's a large selection." The other men laughed merrily, Magnus joining in as well.

Tom raised an eyebrow, _fifteen daughters_? He couldn't quite imagine how the man managed that, he was also aware that Macmillan also had a son, and yet he didn't even look that old. But as the alcohol intake increased, talks became less serious.

All in all the evening ended on a happy note. Many house elves were called to help the ladies move their drunken husbands home. Even a highly amused Ella had to help Tom hold on to their portkey home.

She led him to his room and began to undress him. Tom smiled drunkenly down at her as she was undoing his buttons, "This is... is wh-what you – " _hic, _"get f-f-for buy-ing something with with so ma-many buttons."

Ella rolled her green eyes, although she was smiling. "No, this is what I get when you decide to get drunk."

Buttons undone, Ella helped Tom out of his robe. She told him to get into bed and turned to leave. Tom grabbed her arm, pulling her back around to face him. He had the strangest expression on his face. Without warning, he pulled her again. Ella lost her balance and fell onto him, they both landed on the bed. Tom quickly rolled them over, he was now on top of her.

"I'm not as drunk as you think," he whispered into her ear. He kissed her, claiming her lips as his own. Her red lipstick smeared on both of their faces, but neither of them cared. Ella had her hands on Tom's chest, she could feel the rapid thumping of his heart and his hard cock pressing against her. She felt it pulsing hungrily between her legs.

Tom kissed her neck, sucking and bitting. She moaned loudly. His hands travelled all over her body, eagerly examining every delectable inch. He got on his knees, she was trapped between his legs. His dark eyes blazing, he tore her red silk dress, her ample bosom bounced.

"_Tom..." _she moaned.

Tom groaned, his cock twitched. He removed their clothes wandlessly, unable to stand any more barriers between them.

His tongue traced her nipples with his tongue, licking and sucking them eagerly, his fingers playing with her clit. She squirmed underneath him, moaning and screaming.

"Tom... _Tom... please..._"she begged desperately.

Tom smirked.

He positioned himself at her entrance and plunged into her. Immediately, he moaned. Her warmth was so incredibly tight around his cock.

He continued thrusting. Their moans mixed together as he started going faster and faster. Ella gripped onto the bedsheets, her whole body was shaking uncontrollably.

"_Oh fuck...fuck...AH!"_She screamed. Her throbbing pussy clenched up, squeezing Tom. He yelped at the sudden increase of pressure, her primal scream put him over the edge; his hot sperm erupted inside of her, filling her up.

No words were spoken. Two naked bodies lay tangled, Ella sighed happily. Tom released the most horrendous snore.

Ella snorted. "Well of course..." she muttered just before sleep claimed her mind.

* * *

**Oh Merlin! What did I do?**

**...**

**So yes, that happened. It just sort of happened.**

**Whoops?**

**I don't know, it seemed right. I was having some trouble writing this chapter. So I just let it flow... and then this happened. **

**But oh no... Tom was drunk! O: Naughty Tom, getting drunk then shagging your sister.**

**So what do you guys think? **

**And I promise this isn't going to be, "And then he/she woke up to find out nothing happened."**

**So yes. Anyway. Too soon, yes/no?**

**Please review and let me know, the more reviews the better.**

**Cheerio, **

**Lee**


End file.
